This article investigates whether urban-metabolism models can better support green-infrastructure planning by incorporating ecosystem-service research. It identifies a disconnect between material-flow assessment and the ecological functions that influence energy demand, carbon storage and human wellbeing.

Through systematic review and framework development, the authors examine renewable-energy provision, mitigation of building energy demand and carbon sequestration. They propose an expanded material-flow-accounting approach capable of representing these contributions alongside conventional resource inputs and outputs.

The article is an early methodological step toward UMaNS. It demonstrates how green infrastructure can be assessed as part of the urban resource system and not merely as an amenity or land-cover category.