Geoecological systematization and classifi cation of urban geosystems basing on the analysis of material and energy flows
Abstract
The paper presents new approaches to taxonomy and classification of urban landscapes which are the most significant transformers of natural geosystems. Two groups of energy and material flows, i.e. transformed and autonomous, are identified in urban areas. The first include, for example, water consumption, final energy consumption and others. Autonomous flows that did not exist in the natural landscapes are, for example, the concentration of solid waste or the emission of greenhouse gases. Of 819 European cities with a population of over 100 thousand people, key cities for four UN statistical categories (over 5 million people; from 1 to 5 million people; from 500 thousand to 1 million people; from 100 thousand to 500 thousand people) were selected. Specific features of material and energy flows in the cities of foreign Europe and the European part of Russia with different population numbers were revealed. Cities of the first category are characterized by maximum specific indicators of all material and energy flows, both natural-anthropogenic and autonomous. In cities belonging to the second category the energy load on the territory is significantly reduced. For cities of the third category, the most acute geo-environmental problems are food supply, drinking water supply, disposal of domestic waste, and in the cities of the fourth category water and air treatment are the top priority. The parameters of material and energy flows transformation in urban areas and the calculated indicators of their environmental impact make it possible to establish classification characteristics for the refinement and development of the small-scale classification of urban geosystems.
About the Authors
E. P. Romanova
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Geography, Department of Physical Geography of the World and Geoecology
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Professor, D.Sc. in Geography
M. A. Arshinova
Lomonosov Moscow State University, Faculty of Geography, Department of Physical Geography of the World and Geoecology
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Senior Scientific Researcher, Ph.D. in Geography
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Review
For citations:
Romanova E.P., Arshinova M.A. Geoecological systematization and classifi cation of urban geosystems basing on the analysis of material and energy flows. Vestnik Moskovskogo universiteta. Seriya 5, Geografiya. 2021;(6):3-12. (In Russ.)
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