ABSTRACT
In this chapter we present several other applications of the MuSIASEM approach having the goal to illustrate its versatility in relation to the task of generating an integrated set of indicators within the narrative of the metabolic pattern of societies. In particular we present: (1) an “ad hoc” grammar for the analysis of urban metabolism. In fact, the analysis of the urban metabolic pattern requires dealing with very concentrated biophysical flows: the economic process taking place in urban areas generates more than the 95 per cent of the GDP using less than 3 per cent of colonized land; (2) two case studies of the urban metabolism of Barcelona (Spain): the first dealing with the effect of ageing on the aggregate requirement and supply of hours of work in the paid work sector and the second using GIS techniques to study spatial patterns of final consumption; (3) a multi-scale analysis of urban waste metabolism in Italy, illustrating the advantages of using multi-scale indicators; (4) a multi-scale analysis of water metabolism intensity in Spain with a comparison of Catalonia and Andalusia. In this application the MuSIASEM approach is used to integrate the urban metabolic pattern with the metabolic pattern of rural areas. Rural areas are made of typologies of colonized land characterized by a very diluted density of monetary flows, but which are responsible for the food supply and for the consumption of an important percentage (above 70 per cent) of fresh water; (5) an overview of the possibility of integrating the non-equivalent views of the metabolic pattern of societies associated with the adoption of different scales (the microscope, the naked-eye, the telescope and the satellite view). This integration is crucial in order to have a holistic view based on a set of different narratives all relevant for sustainability.
