Spatial concentration of urban assets in the Philadelphia region: An emergy synthesis

Abstract Energy is the ultimate driver for urban growth, providing the engine for its physical and economic activities, however it is the concentration of energy into more valuable forms—such as fuels, buildings, institutions, and knowledge—that underlies the capacity for development. The goal of the project is to evaluate the interactions between resource flows (renewable and non-renewable) and the spatial distribution of more concentrated assets, using household consumption as the primary lens through which to construct an emergy model of the greater Philadelphia region.