Premium
Modern cities modelled as “super‐cells” rather than multicellular organisms: Implications for industry, goods and services
Author(s) -
Chang Jie,
Ge Ying,
Wu Zhaoping,
Du Yuanyuan,
Pan Kaixuan,
Yang Guofu,
Ren Yuan,
Heino Mikko P.,
Mao Feng,
Cheong Kang Hao,
Qu Zelong,
Fan Xing,
Min Yong,
Peng Changhui,
Meyerson Laura A.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/bies.202100041
Subject(s) - multicellular organism , biosphere , sustainability , hierarchy , goods and services , biology , ecology , business , economy , economics , cell , market economy , genetics
The structure and “metabolism” (movement and conversion of goods and energy) of urban areas has caused cities to be identified as “super‐organisms”, placed between ecosystems and the biosphere, in the hierarchy of living systems. Yet most such analogies are weak, and render the super‐organism model ineffective for sustainable development of cities. Via a cluster analysis of 15 shared traits of the hierarchical living system, we found that industrialized cities are more similar to eukaryotic cells than to multicellular organisms; enclosed systems, such as factories and greenhouses, paralleling organelles in eukaryotic cells. We further developed a “super‐cell” industrialized city model: a “eukarcity” with citynucleus (urban area) as a regulating centre, and organaras (enclosed systems, which provide the majority of goods and services) as the functional components, and cityplasm (natural ecosystems and farmlands) as the matrix. This model may improve the vitality and sustainability of cities through planning and management.