Considering Industrial Ecology

Philadelphia was the first real major city of the United States and has played a key role throughout the country’s history. The political and social importance of Philadelphia was unparalleled during the colonial era and the city was an epicenter for innovation and social development during this period and for many years following. Although the city’s level of importance has declined through time as the country became more diverse and started relying on a variety of interconnected regions contributing in different ways to the development of the nation, the city and its surrounding region continued to be of great importance. At the start of the industrial revolution, Philadelphia was a logical place to install facilities because of its access to water and because of its abundance of available labor. Philadelphia saw a huge population boom and the city openly adopted the new industrial characteristic that had become a prominent economic model.

The industrial era lasted for quite some time and the industrial infrastructure was tightly woven in the urban fabric of the United States and its major cities. Although this economic and social model brought large growth to the industrial cities and their surrounding regions, the remnants of this system are quite prevalent years after the great shift away from the ‘industrial city’. It is safe to say that Philadelphia has entered the post-industrial stage, the “fourth and final stage of the demographic transition model, in which both birth and death rates have fallen to a low level and remain stable there, and populations may even decline slightly (as is the case in this city, even with the entire metro region growing steadily)” (Withgott; Brennan 2007). One of the great challenges facing the City of Philadelphia and other major post-industrial cities is the ‘redevelopment’ of the declining industrial sectors and incorporating the existing structures and facilities into the urban network in a smart and sustainable way. It is for this reason that Philadelphia must consider its industrial ecology.



Although industrial activity in the city has been reduced dramatically, there is still industrial manufacturing taking place (oil refineries are actually rather numerous in South Philly) and regardless of current activity, there is still a large amount of solid ‘waste’ left over from the heavily industrial era. As opposed to the economic ‘straight-line’ industrial production process pattern, environmental systems follow a ‘cyclical’ pattern that involves natural recycling and re-use. Industrial ecology, which explains that economic systems are not separate from ecological systems, but are actually directly intertwined, and which “integrates principals from engineering, chemistry ecology, economic and other disciplines… seeks to redesign industrial systems in order to reduce resource inputs and minimize inefficiency” (Withgott; Breenan 2007). This is of great importance to any post-industrial city wishing to ‘green’ itself. Industrial ecology encourages the city and its industrial entities to function in a cyclical as opposed to a linear way. Philadelphia could certainly use consistent urban planning that considers the city’s industrial ecology and the best ways to transition out of the post-industrial era in a sustainable way.

Robert and Leslie Ayres propose four major strategies for “increasing the ecological efficiency of resource use and reducing wastes and pollution” that are quite useful for urban centers attempting to become green cities (Harris 2006):

1. Dematerialization: achieving the same economic goal using less material by increasing materials use efficiency.

2. Materials substitution: replacing a scarce, hazardous, or high-polluting material with a more environmentally benign substitute.

3. Repair, reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling (Refer to blog link concerning recycling in Philadelphia).

4. Waste mining: retrieving usable materials from urban, industrial, or agricultural waste streams.

(Ayres and Ayres, 1996, p. 13-14)

Philadelphia should certainly look into incorporating or expanding these practices within the city and the metro region in order to reduce wastes and improve efficiency. Transitioning into a cleaner future city and redesigning the industrial network of the city is a tough challenge, but must be addressed. Practices like these will help this post-industrial city transition into becoming a green city where the industrial system is no longer dominant.


Ayres, Robert U., Leslie W. Ayres. Industrial Ecology: Towards Closing the Materials Cycle. Cheltenham, U.K.: Elgar, 1996.

Harris, Jonathan. Environmental and Natural Resource Economics: A Contemporary Approach. Houghton Mifflin Company; Boston: 2006.

Withgott, Jay; Brennan, Scott. Essential Environment: The Science Behind the Stories, 2nd Ed. Pearson Education, Inc.; San Francisco: 2007.