Energy hierarchy and urban landscape system

The study of ecosystems suggests principles by which the flow of energy gen erates hierarchies in all systems. From viewpoint of ecological energetics, urban system lies on the highest level of ecosystem hierarchy. The main ob jective of this paper is to study the effect of energy Rows on the hierarch ies and spatial organization of urban zonation. This research uses Taipei m etropolitan region as the area for the case study. "Emergy" is used as the principal conceptual tool for energy analysis; "transformity" is used to me asure the hierarchies of land uses and urban landscape systems. Based on th e calculation of the spatial distribution of energy Rows, using GIS, the em power density and transformity increase from rural to urban center. In orde r to delineate zones of different energetics, the 1178 administrative distr icts of the Taipei metropolitan region are used as units for multivariate c lassification, in which 19 variables of energy Rows are condensed into four factors. The factor scores of each districts are then used as input for cl uster analysis and discriminate analysis. As a result, different energy str uctures, and subsequently, different types and amount of energy Rows tend t o associate with different intensities of urbanization. The Taipei metropol itan region is classified into six energetic zones: mixed-use urban core; h igh density urban residential district; service and manufacturing urban dis trict; agricultural district, newly developed suburban district; and natura l area. The calculation of transformity and emergy indices further establis h the hierarchical order of these zones. The distribution of the six energe tic zones, reveals the spatial energetic hierarchies of Taipei metropolitan region. The implication of energetic characteristics to planning practice is also discussed to conclude this research. (C) 2001 Published by Elsevier Science B.V.