Table 1.
Existing frameworks of analysing urban and ecological systems.
| Theory | Components | Purpose | References | Application | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City as a special type of ecosystem | Urban biodiversity & ecosystem | forests, grasslands, and wetlands | Assess the effect of urbanization on ecological system | Hamer & McDonnell, 2008; Wei et al., 2014 [10,38] | Urban forest and landscape management |
| Urban metabolism | production, transformation, consumption and exchange of materials, resources, energy and services | Measure urban or regional socio-economic metabolism | Barles, 2010 [16] | Material and energy cycle assessment; Environmental footprint analysis | |
| Ecosystem services | provisioning services; regulating services; cultural services; supporting services | Provide ecological, environmental, economic, social and cultural benefits for mankind | Jones et al., 2013 [39] | Ecosystem service markets planning; Assessment of urbanization impacts | |
| City as a coupled system | Ecological Economics | Four-Capital Framework | Balanced Eco-system of (1) built or manufactured capital; (2) human capital; (3) social capital and natural capital | Vemuri, 2006 [40] | Urban and regional planning approach |
| Ultimate ends—Intermediate means—Ultimate means | Create an overarching goal with clear metrics of progress toward sustainable development | Costanza & Kubiszewski, 2016; Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (UN, 2014) [13,17] | Sustainable wellbeing model and measurement | ||
| SES | Four core subsystems: resource systems, resource units, governance systems, and users | Organize different concepts and languages to describe and explain complex social-ecological systems (SESs) | Ostrom (2007, 2009); Grimm et al., 2008 [11,12,18] | Urban environmental stewardship; Urban-ecological network structure; Analysis of dynamics within urban SES | |
| DPSIR | Driver, pressure, state, impact, response | Develop an improved understanding of, indicators for, and appropriate responses to impact of human activities on the environment | Manap, 2012 [41] | Capture socioeconomic influential factors; Integration of ecosystem services and human well-being; DPSIR indicator system | |
| City as a nexus system | Nexus Model | State, Market, Societal, and Geospatial | Bridging the State, Market, Societal, and Geospatial contexts | Jacobs, 2013 [42] | Complex urban-ecological system analysis; Governance promotion |
| Smart city domains | Natural resources and energy, Transport and mobility, Buildings, Government, Economy and people | Nexus for sustainable development with daily life of human beings | Neirotti et al., 2014 [43] | Smart cities Designing, planning, and management; urban community transition; Innovation and governance promotion | |
| E-LAUD framework | Ecology—Environment & Human Health-Urban design management | Better understanding the complementary roles of ecological system in urban development and the functioning of ecosystems and ecological resilience in a complex human-dominated landscape | Kattel, 2013 [14] | Ecology-Environment and Human Health-Urban design management |