Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Recent Work Title THE URBAN ECOSYSTEM AND RESOURCE-CONSERVING URBANSIM IN THIRD WORLD CITIES Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/8zr5n7m9 Author Meier, R.L. Publication Date 1981-03-01 eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California LBL-12640 ITtI Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory Ii:I UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA <~) ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT ~. (:J r~ DIVISION THE URBAN ECOSYSTEM AND RESOURCE-CONSERVING URBANSIM IN THIRD WORLD CITIES R.L. Meier, Sam Berman, Tim Campbell, and Chris Fitzgerald March 1981 Prepared for the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract W-740S-ENG-48 DISCLAIMER This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by the United States Government. While this document is believed to contain correct information, neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor the Regents of the University of California, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by its trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof, or the Regents of the University of California. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof or the Regents of the University of California. LBL-12640 THE URBAN ECOSYSTEM AND RESOURCE~CONSERVING URBANISM IN THIRD WORLD CITIES R. L. Meier Sam Berman Tim- Campbell Chris Fitzgerald Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory University of California Berkeley, California 94720 March 1981 The Resource-Conserving Urbanism Project is carried out jointly by the Energy and Environment Division of Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory and the Institute for Urban and Regional Development, UC Berkeley. The project is supported by the Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Renewable Energy of the U.S. Department of Energy under Contract No. W-7405-ENG-48 and by the Office of Urban Development. Unfted States International - - Cooperation Agency, under DOE Contract No. WW/0003-2-79. The authors gratefully acknowledge this support. This manuscript was printed from originals provided by the author. - iii TABLE OF CONTENTS SUMMARY •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• '•••••••••••••••••••• PART ONE: SELECTIVE REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND PAST EXPERIENCE Definition and Background of Urban Ecosystens Experience ••••••••• 8 Inpact of the Ecosystens Approach •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••.•• 16 The Experience of Related Approaches ••••••••••••••••.•.•••••.•••• 20 Issues Raised by the Urban Ecosysten Approach •••••••••••••••••••. 27 Adaptation and Generalization of Ecosysten Methodology ••••••••••• 32 PART TWO FINDINGS FROM STUDIES IN THE FIELD Overview. ..... ..... .... .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. ... .. .... ... 45 Hong Kong........................................................ 49 Seoul. 54 Ma nil a ••..•.•••.••••..•••••.••••.•..••...•.•.••.••••••.... ~ . • . 59 Mex ; co Ci ty . 64 Oaxaca .••..••••••••.••••••• '. • • • . • • • • • • . • • • • . • . • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • . 68 PART THREE A FIELD STUDY REPORT: ENERGIZING URBAN ECOSYSTEMS IN THE PHILIPPINES: MANILA Introduction..................................................... 73 General Inpressions of Manila: August 1979....................... 78 The Ecosysten of Metro-Manila •••••••••••••••• ~................... 85 Inputs. 103 Outputs. 122 Vulnerability .................................................... 127 "Fair Weather" Options ••••.••••••••••.••••.•••••••••••••.•.•••••• 137 Conclusions ••.•.••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 142 Postscript: Septenber 1980 ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••..••••••• 144 PART FOUR POLICY IMPLICATIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR IMPLEMENTATION •••••••••.•. 149 BIBLIOGRAPHY. •• • ••• •• • • •• • •• •• ••• •••• •• • •• • •• • • • • • • • • •• •••• ••• .• • 161 •• - iv - Urban Ecosystems and Resource-Conserving Urbanism in Third World Cities - v - RESOUltCE-coHSERVING URBAN ECOSYSTEM APPROPRIATE TO noPICAL ENV1ROHHENTS (adapted from Third World Plannins Review!, 1980, 162-3) 1. Irrig.ted frinae for .arket produce, .replantina Chineee-.tyle .ake. po.eible dz to ten crop. per year; accompanied by ..11 live.tock. 2. Coapla of tall tr.. e, ehaded tree., roote, tuber., around h_ dwelltna. about two to three t1mee village den.itie •• 3. Ad.pt.tion of traditional bul1dina forme for publ1c bul1diq., with d.t.l1 _ch .or. noticeable .t petle.trian leyel. 4. Princip.l road Iletvork _intaill. contiftUou. bu. traffic, lnat dde road. en­ courage thr.. -wheeler., bicycle., and eome cart.; _.t be low friction eurf.ced. s. Multipurpo.. work.hop and office buildins. th.t aez1Dize ventil.tion intern- ally "placina .ir conditionina. 6. Aquaculture of sreen YesetAble., carp. tilapi•• &ad fully da.a.ticated ailkfi.h. 7. Lower den.ity terraced hill.ide. preferred by illtem.tion.l profa•• ion.l. and ae.orted .pecial .chool.. clillic., and .tudio•• 8. Microwaye ad televi.eion tower. control the hilltop. and, with the aid of fiber optic. Iletvork.. .erYe portable telephone. in vehicle. ad on wri.t•• 9. BiSh .peed railway cOftftect. urban center. and cre.te•• "S.lopolitan cor­ ridor hundred. of kilometer. in length. 10. Enersy-efficiellt office build ins. could be earth-covered. four to .iz floor •• half below arade. wind_. f.cina ....y frCIIII the &un to radi.te out a­ ca•• he.t, apedite. the u.e of fluore.cent .creen. 1ft.tead of paper work, ad prOYidee open .pace in larden. on top. 11. Garden apartmente dedsned to _ltiply around epace and areen envir_nt, ·cambiDina .haded plante, palma, and kitchen sarden. 1ft • walkup arrangement. 12. Chlorell. ponde for ._it.tion in _y 1_-lyinS aree.; product i.e fed to hiSh-v.lued fi.h, lnat converted to biose. if contamin.ted; .1.0 ..ailable ae • 1_ den.ity park. becau.e vi.itor. would not interfere with recyclins oper.tion•• 13. Kerin. with apart.ent b.rse., e.ch with • core of c_ity facl1itie. to facil1tate fam1ly life and prevent pollution; tied to pien for HrYice •• 14. Floating euburb. of ind.pendent hou.eboat., .erYiced by duty.hip. carry­ iDa food, fuel, w.ter. and aa1l. ad carryinl ....y waet•• and home _uf.cture•• 15. Railw.y .tation. h.ve depart.ent .tore. and euper.art.u above th_, and of­ fer .tr.teSic point. for telephonic co.munic.tion•• 16. Allot.ent. of 1_ acce.. l_d for part-tiDe lardenina and food pr•• erY.tion. 17•• eiahborhood w.ter center th.t .ak.. po.dble intend"'e "cyclinS in • drClllsht. Cover by Chris Macy SUMMARY The developing world is creating cities which add new industrial activities, manage the development process, and receive a large share of the population which cannot find productive work in the countryside. Because these cities are reaching astonishing size--some are on the way to metropolitan populations greater than any in the developed world-­ their futures are questioned. Will the resources be sufficient? Cities are notable for the quantities of energy they require. The inflows of food and water, however, are even greater in volume. The recent energy price rise triggered crises for all cities, but those in developing countries were selectively affected, because their infras­ tructure and expectations were formed during an era when petroleum was very cheap. Moreover, their population growth continues at four to six percent per year, and they are under pressure to absorb more people for decades to come. What are the adaptations, not only to fuel price shocks, but to the food and water supply shortages that became increas­ ingly likely because of such growth? We have undertaken field studies in representative cities in developing regions in the hope of finding some answers to questions like these. Conventional wisdom would suggest that the great cities--those well on their way to exceeding New York or Tokyo in population--will be exceedingly vulnerable to price rises and supply discontinuities in - 2 - energy, considering fuel and food separately or together. Conventional wisdom goes on to conclude that development should be concentrated hereafter in cities of intenmediate size, which suffer less from crowd­ ing, congestion, and pollution. It is reinforced by the observation that water supply should, be less of a problem when urban population is distributed widely. This study is important to the future policies of Western countries and Japan because the rising overall demand of cities in the developing world is projected to match that of the developed within the span of a human generation. In the competition for limited supplies from the relatively few exporters of petroleum and caloric foodstuffs the developing countries may well lose out--because of inadequate finances-- since the prices that everyone pays will be bid up. This effort was intended to pOint the way to local policies for the conservation of energy and to the design of infrastructure better suited to high-cost energy and water, as well as to examine the potential resiliency of selected cities to shocks from price increases and resource availabil­ ity. We employed the comprehensive overview based upon urban ecosystems pioneered independently by Newcombe and by Meier in Third World cities. Within the sample