Publications

Research publications and scholarly contributions

Research publications and scholarly contributions

Selected publications, books, scientific reports, doctoral theses and editorial activities emerging from the UrbanLab’s interdisciplinary research programme.

Selected Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles

Selected journal articles spanning urban infrastructure, material and resource flows, ecosystem services, spatial analysis, artificial intelligence, governance and design.

2026

Journal Article

Design insights for resource-efficient and community-inclusive urban spaces: Learning from the metabolism of alternative resource governance systems in Brussels

Daniel Otero Peña; Daniela Perrotti; Pierre Vanderstraeten

Cities

173, 106930

2026

Journal Article

Who is your Neighbour? Energy Consumption Relations in Suburban and Urban Areas: Evidence from Central Europe

Pramit Verma; Justyna M. Chodkowska-Miszczuk; Agata Lewandowska; Daniela Perrotti

Environmental Modeling & Assessment

2026

Journal Article

Situating the contribution of nature-based solutions in informal settlements within the context of urban metabolism: Lessons from selected informal settlements in Ghana

Dorothy Julian Nalumu; Daniela Perrotti; Elisabetta Rosa; Owusu Amponsah; Stephen Appiah Takyi

Local Environment

1–29

Open Access

2026

Journal Article

Resource-sensitive and community-inclusive urban archetypes to enhance the applicability of urban metabolism frameworks by design practitioners

Daniel Otero Peña; Daniela Perrotti

Environmental Research: Infrastructure and Sustainability

6(2), 025003

Open Access

2025

Journal Article

Metabolism of Interconnected Cities: A Review of the Literature and Analytical Framework

Pramit Verma; Daniela Perrotti; Georg Schiller

Resources, Conservation and Recycling

217, 108194

2025

Journal Article

Characterizing Informality in Urban Resource Management: Towards an Integrated Framework of Urban Metabolism and Informal Flows

Yasmina Choueiri; Daniela Perrotti; Alejandra Acevedo-De-los-Ríos

Land Use Policy

151, 107472

Open Access

2025

Journal Article

A Data Framework for Assessing Nature-Based Solutions’ Contribution to the Urban Metabolism of Informal Settlements

Dorothy Julian Nalumu; Daniela Perrotti; Elisabetta Rosa

Sustainability Science

20(5), 1935–1963

2025

Journal Article

Linking Systems to Agencies in Urban Metabolism Studies: A Conceptual Framework and Computational Analysis of Research Literature

Nicola Bertoldi; Daniela Perrotti

Ecological Economics

227, 108397

Open Access

2025

Journal Article

Mapping Agency in Urban Metabolism Research: A Systematic Characterisation of Urban-Level Resource-Use Assessment Models Based on Levels of Engagement with Agents

Ehsan Ahmadian; Daniela Perrotti

Ecological Modelling

506, 111140

2025

Journal Article

Metabolic Thinking in Planning and Designing Urban Landscapes: Practitioners’ Perspectives on Agency

Sareh Moosavi; Daniela Perrotti; André Stephan

European Planning Studies

33, 1443–1466

Open Access

2025

Review and Critical Intervention

Natura Naturae: Unsettling Ecologies or Why the Urban Should Remain a Contested Field

Daniela Perrotti

Dialogues in Urban Research

3(2), 206–208

2025

Conference Paper

Urban Biowaste-Based Building Materials for a Growing City: The Case of Brussels Capital Region

Giulia Scialpi; Daniela Perrotti

IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science

1554, 012013

Open Access

2025

Journal Article

The Application of a Data Framework to Assess the Contribution of Nature-Based Solutions to Urban Metabolism in Informal Settlements of Kumasi, Ghana

Dorothy Julian Nalumu; Daniela Perrotti; Elisabetta Rosa; Owusu Amponsah; Stephen Appiah Takyi

SN Social Sciences

5(5), Article 34

2024

Journal Article

Sustainability Transitions Require an Understanding of Smaller Cities

Eugene Mohareb; Daniela Perrotti

Journal of Industrial Ecology

28(1), 6–16

Open Access

2024

Conference Paper

A Review of the Contribution of Nature-Based Solutions to the Urban Metabolism of Informal Settlements

Dorothy Julian Nalumu; Daniela Perrotti

IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science

1363, 012083

Open Access

2024

Journal Article

An Integrated Urban Metabolism and Ecosystem Service Assessment: The Case Study of Lima, Peru

Ursula Cárdenas-Mamani; Daniela Perrotti

Journal of Industrial Ecology

28, 1567–1581

2023

Journal Article

High-Resolution Mapping of Material Stocks in Belgian Road Infrastructure: Material Efficiency Patterns, Material Recycling Potentials, and Greenhouse-Gas Emissions-Reduction Opportunities

Zhaoxing Wang; Dominik Wiedenhofer; André Stephan; Daniela Perrotti; Wim Van den Bergh; Zhi Cao

Environmental Science & Technology

57, 12674–12688

2024

Conference Paper

Role of Urban Metabolism Assessments in Addressing Food Security through Urban Agriculture in Informal Settlements: A Critical Review

Alejandra Acevedo-De-los-Ríos; Daniela Perrotti

IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science

1363, 012080

Open Access

2023

Conference Paper

Adaptability of Buildings: To What Extent Do Design-Support Models Consider Context-Related Factors? A Literature Review

Giulia Scialpi; Joost Declercq; K. Gawlik; Daniela Perrotti

Journal of Physics: Conference Series

2600, 192009

Open Access

2024

Journal Article

Circular Economy in the Valorisation of Food and Other Biowaste: Case Studies in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in the Belgian Construction Sector

Giulia Scialpi; Daniela Perrotti

Environmental Science and Pollution Research

31, 17914–17931

2023

Journal Article

Leveraging the No Net Land Take Policy through Ecological Connectivity Analysis: The Role of Industrial Platforms in Flanders, Belgium

Dorothy Julian Nalumu; Daniel Otero Peña; Daniela Perrotti

Sustainability

15, 16103

Open Access

2022

Journal Article

Advancing Urban Metabolism Studies through GIS Data: Resource Flows, Open-Space Networks, and Vulnerable Communities in Mexico City

Daniel Otero Peña; Daniela Perrotti; Eugene Mohareb

Journal of Industrial Ecology

26(4), 1333–1349

Open Access

2022

Conference Paper

An Urban Hospital Based on the Principles of Circular Economy: The Case of Joseph Bracops Hospital

Giulia Scialpi; Joost Declercq; L. Grisay; Daniela Perrotti

IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science

1078, 012011

Open Access

2022

Journal Article

The Use of Urban Biowaste and Excavated Soil in the Construction Sector: A Literature Review

Giulia Scialpi; Daniela Perrotti

Waste Management & Research

40, 262–273

Open Access

2022

Journal Article

The Place of Space in Urban Metabolism Research: Towards a Spatial Turn? A Review and Future Agenda

Jean-Baptiste Bahers; Aristide Athanassiadis; Daniela Perrotti; Stephan Kampelmann

Landscape and Urban Planning

221, 104376

Open Access

2022

Journal Article

Toward an Agentic Understanding of the Urban Metabolism: A Landscape Theory Perspective

Daniela Perrotti

Urban Geography

43, 1–11

2022

Journal Article

Understanding the Contribution of Ecosystem Services to Urban Metabolism Assessments: An Integrated Framework

Ursula Cárdenas-Mamani; Daniela Perrotti

Ecological Indicators

136, 108593

Open Access

2021

Journal Article

Exploring the Performances of Urban Local Symbiosis Strategy in Algiers, between a Potential of Energy Use Optimization and CO2 Emission Mitigation

Mazia Chaker; Ewa Berezowska-Azzag; Daniela Perrotti

Journal of Cleaner Production

292, 125850

2020

Journal Article

Can Water Systems Foster Commoning Practices? Analysing Leverages for Self-Organization in Urban Water Commons as Social–Ecological Systems

Daniela Perrotti; Katherine Hyde; Daniel Otero Peña

Sustainability Science

15, 781–795

Open Access

2020

Journal Article

Learning to Chill: The Role of Design Schools and Professional Training to Improve Urban Climate and Urban Metabolism

M. Taleghani; A. Montazami; Daniela Perrotti

Energies

13(9), 2243

2020

Journal Article

Can Urban Metabolism Models Advance Green Infrastructure Planning? Insights from Ecosystem Services Research

Daniela Perrotti; Sven Stremke

Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science

47, 678–694

2019

Journal Article

Evaluating Urban Metabolism Assessment Methods and Knowledge Transfer between Scientists and Practitioners: A Combined Framework for Supporting Practice-Relevant Research

Daniela Perrotti

Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science

46, 1458–1479

2019

Journal Article

Incorporating Metabolic Thinking into Regional Planning: The Case of the Sierra Calderona Strategic Plan

J. Galan; Daniela Perrotti

Urban Planning

4, 152–171

Open Access

2019

Referee Report

Referee Report: Reconnecting with Nature: Developing Urban Spaces in the Age of Climate Change

Daniela Perrotti

Emerald Open Research

1:2

2017

Journal Article

Enhanced Performance of the Eurostat Method for Comprehensive Assessment of Urban Metabolism: A Material Flow Analysis of Amsterdam

Ilse M. Voskamp; Sven Stremke; Marc Spiller; Daniela Perrotti; Jan Peter van der Hoek; Huub H. M. Rijnaarts

Journal of Industrial Ecology

21, 887–902

Selected Contributions to Peer-Reviewed Books

Selected chapters connecting urban metabolism with infrastructure, landscape, resilience, circularity, governance and spatial practice.

2024

Multispecies cohabitation analysis for animal-inclusive urban studies: An integrated framework and application in the Brussels Capital Region

Marlène Boura; Anna Larissa Bonifacio; Damien Claeys; Daniela Perrotti

CO-HABITAT Research Report — KU Leuven / University of Louvain

41–56; ISBN 978-94-9278-027-0

Open Access

2024

Theory, Practice and Politics: The Search for Other-than-Human Design Practices

Koenraad Danneels; Bruno Notteboom; Daniela Perrotti

CO-HABITAT Research Report — KU Leuven / University of Louvain

ISBN 978-94-9278-027-0

2023

Coproduire une dynamique socio-écologique

Daniela Perrotti; Yasmina Choueiri

Architectures Wallonie–Bruxelles Inventaires #4 2020–2023 — Vers une démarche architecturale régénérative, Éditions Cellule architecture de la Fédération Wallonie–Bruxelles

pp. 163–171

2023

From Concepts to Action: Urban Metabolism and Resilience Thinking

Giulia Scialpi; Daniela Perrotti

Resilient Communities: A Collection of Short Essays on the Adaptive Capacity of Cities, D Editore

2023

Urban Metabolism Research Can Leverage Resource-Sensitive Planning and Design of Open Spaces and Green Infrastructure

Daniela Perrotti; Sina Moosavi; Daniel Otero Peña

Europan France — Ré-imaginer des architectures en prenant soin des milieux habités, Europan C17A "Villes Vivantes"

pp. 121–128

2022

Studying the Metabolism of Resilient Communities: Urban Practices, Micronarratives, and Their Agency

Daniela Perrotti

Resilient Communities and the Peccioli Charter

51–58

2022

The Peccioli Charter: The New Constitution of the Nation of the Italian Resilient Communities

Maurizio Carta; José Antonio Lara-Hernandez; K. Accossato; M. Baggio; P. Boarin; L. Bravo; C. Brisotto; L. D’Acci; A. Melis; I. Paoletti; M. R. Perbellini; Daniela Perrotti; L. Trentin

Resilient Communities and the Peccioli Charter, Springer

pp. 269–275

2021

Challenges and Opportunities at the Crossroads of Environmental Sustainability and Economy Research

Daniela Perrotti; Pramit Verma; K. K. Srivastava; Pardeep Singh

Environmental Sustainability and Economy, Elsevier

pp. 300–316

2021

Urban Metabolism: Towards a Holistic Practice of Resilience

Daniela Perrotti

Catalogue of the 17th International Architecture Exhibition — Italian Pavilion, D Editore

2021

Landscape Structure and Ecological Connectivity across Sixteen Sub-Catchments in the Flemish Region

Daniela Perrotti; Daniel Otero Peña

Green With Grey: Deseal for Water, KU Leuven Press

2020

Urban Metabolism: Old Challenges, New Frontiers and the Research Agenda Ahead

Daniela Perrotti

Urban Ecology

Chapter 2, 17–32

2020

Landscape-Infrastructure: Formal-Informal Entanglements across Political Ecologies of Resource Use

Daniela Perrotti

Routledge — Informality through Sustainability: Urban Informality Now

pp. 210–225

2020

Measuring Reading’s Resource Consumption: An Application of Urban Metabolism

Eugene Mohareb; Daniela Perrotti

Reading 2050: A Smart and Sustainable City?, University of Reading Press

pp. 48–55

2019

Urban Metabolism Narratives in the Digital Turn: Becoming Real-World and Real-Time

Daniela Perrotti

Internationale Bauausstellung Heidelberg — IBA LAB “Digitale Stadt?”

pp. 46–53

2019

Green Infrastructure in the Space of Flows: An Urban Metabolism Approach to Bridge Environmental Performance and User’s Wellbeing

Daniela Perrotti; O. Iuorio

Planning Cities with Nature

265–277

Cities are not closed systems

Their metabolism extends across territories, infrastructures, ecosystems and communities. Understanding these relationships is essential to creating urban environments that are more resource-sensitive, socially just and ecologically resilient.