URBAN ECOSYSTEMS, ENERGETIC HIERARCHIES, AND ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS OF TAIPEI METROPOLIS

Urban systems cannot be fully understood in isolation from the ecologi cal system in which they exist. Past research projects which analysed energy in urban systems have focused on efficiency and conservation an d the analysis of energetic flows that interconnect urban economic and ecological systems have not received much attention. The underlying t heme of this paper is the application of ecological energetic analysis to bridge that gap. The energy evaluation of Taiwan, and the developm ent of a global classification of ecological economic systems indicate that in less than half a century, Taiwan has changed from a rural cou ntry with an economy based on raw commodity production, to one that is highly industrialized with a lower self-sufficiency of emergy use. us ing a taxonomic approach, Taiwan can further be classified into four u rban ecological economic systems: (1) agricultural settlement; (2) sur burban industry; (3) urban metropolis; and (4) resource production. Th e distribution of these four systems also reveals the spatial energeti c hierarchy within Taiwan. Finally, in concluding this paper; future d irections for continuing research on urban energetic flows are suggest ed. (C) 1998 Academic Press Limited.