ABSTRACT
Rees and Wackernagel describe cities as entropic structures that consume and dissipate energy, “black holes” of fossil fuels, foods, and goods consumption that generate enormous waste and pollute the atmosphere. This view of entropy and dissipation is a marked contrast from the “equilibrium” dynamics described by human ecologists of the last century. The estimation method of Rees and Wackernagel could be criticized for paying insufficient attention to the savings brought from collective consumption of goods and services in urbanized areas. Yet their essential proposition underscores the urgency of a conceptual shift that recognizes the world has reached an historic turning point. They have also opened up new perspectives on the nature of North-South inequality and the global overshoot in resource flows between the developing and developed world.
