TY - JOUR
T1 - Product and metal stocks accumulation of China's megacities
T2 - Patterns, drivers, and implications
AU - Liu, Qiance
AU - Cao, Zhi
AU - Liu, Xiaojie
AU - Liu, Litao
AU - Dai, Tao
AU - Han, Ji
AU - Duan, Huabo
AU - Wang, Chang
AU - Wang, Heming
AU - Liu, Jun
AU - Cai, Guotian
AU - Mao, Ruichang
AU - Wang, Gaoshang
AU - Tan, Juan
AU - Li, Shenggong
AU - Liu, Gang
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2019 American Chemical Society.
PY - 2019/4/16
Y1 - 2019/4/16
N2 - The rapid urbanization in China since the 1970s has led to an exponential growth of metal stocks (MS) in use in cities. A retrospect on the quantity, quality, and patterns of these MS is a prerequisite for projecting future metal demand, identifying urban mining potentials of metals, and informing sustainable urbanization strategies. Here, we deployed a bottom-up stock accounting method to estimate stocks of iron, copper, and aluminum embodied in 51 categories of products and infrastructure across 10 Chinese megacities from 1980 to 2016. We found that the MS in Chinese megacities had reached a level of 2.6-6.3 t/cap (on average 3.7 t/cap for iron, 58 kg/cap for copper, and 151 kg/cap for aluminum) in 2016, which still remained behind the level of western cities or potential saturation level on the country level (e.g., approximately 13 t/cap for iron). Economic development was identified as the most powerful driver for MS growth based on an IPAT decomposition analysis, indicating further increase in MS as China's urbanization and economic growth continues in the next decades. The latecomer cities should therefore explore a wide range of strategies, from urban planning to economy structure to regulations, for a transition toward more "metal-efficient" urbanization pathways.
AB - The rapid urbanization in China since the 1970s has led to an exponential growth of metal stocks (MS) in use in cities. A retrospect on the quantity, quality, and patterns of these MS is a prerequisite for projecting future metal demand, identifying urban mining potentials of metals, and informing sustainable urbanization strategies. Here, we deployed a bottom-up stock accounting method to estimate stocks of iron, copper, and aluminum embodied in 51 categories of products and infrastructure across 10 Chinese megacities from 1980 to 2016. We found that the MS in Chinese megacities had reached a level of 2.6-6.3 t/cap (on average 3.7 t/cap for iron, 58 kg/cap for copper, and 151 kg/cap for aluminum) in 2016, which still remained behind the level of western cities or potential saturation level on the country level (e.g., approximately 13 t/cap for iron). Economic development was identified as the most powerful driver for MS growth based on an IPAT decomposition analysis, indicating further increase in MS as China's urbanization and economic growth continues in the next decades. The latecomer cities should therefore explore a wide range of strategies, from urban planning to economy structure to regulations, for a transition toward more "metal-efficient" urbanization pathways.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85063576193&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1021/acs.est.9b00387
DO - 10.1021/acs.est.9b00387
M3 - Article
C2 - 30865821
AN - SCOPUS:85063576193
SN - 0013-936X
VL - 53
SP - 4128
EP - 4139
JO - Environmental Science and Technology
JF - Environmental Science and Technology
IS - 8
ER -