THESIS
An Urban Metabolism Approach to Understand the Infrastructural Dynamics of the UK Urban Domestic Heat Supply
Christina Sarah Bristow’s doctoral thesis develops a typology of UK cities based on the infrastructural dynamics of domestic heat supply, connecting building stocks, energy demand and low-carbon transition pathways.
Thesis information
AUTHOR
Christina Sarah Bristow
PUBLICATION TYPE
Doctoral Thesis
STATUS
Completed
INSTITUTION
University of Reading
GEOGRAPHIC FOCUS
United Kingdom
RESEARCH AXIS
Agency, Systems and Urban Metabolic Processes
PARTNERS
University of Reading, UK
FUNDING
UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Doctoral Training Partnership
THEMES
Domestic heat; Energy infrastructure; Urban metabolism; Building stock; Energy transition
METHODS
Urban-metabolism accounting; building-stock analysis; infrastructure typology; comparative urban analysis; transition-scenario assessment
Thesis overview
This doctoral research examines the resource requirements and transition pathways associated with domestic heating across the United Kingdom’s urban building stock. It connects buildings, heat demand, technological systems and city characteristics through an urban-metabolism perspective.
The thesis develops a typology of UK cities and investigates how differences in building form, stock composition, infrastructure and energy demand affect the feasibility of low-carbon heat strategies. By making the analysis spatially and temporally explicit, it moves beyond national averages and shows why the same technology or policy may perform differently across urban contexts.
Completed at the University of Reading in 2022 under the supervision of Daniela Perrotti, the research contributes to the Lab’s work on sustainable and resilient infrastructure systems. It demonstrates how urban-metabolism analysis can support differentiated energy-transition planning rather than simply describe resource consumption.