An integrated framework for regional studies: Emergy based spatial analysis of the Province of Cagliari

This research proposes an integrated frameworkto investigate human-dominated systems andprovide a basic approach to urban and regionalstudies in which the multiple interactions betweeneconomic and ecological processes are considered asa whole. Humans generate patterns of land use,infrastructures and other settings and redistributeecosystem functions as flows of energy and matterfor self-maintenance. To understand these emerginginteractions between humans and ecological processes,human activities (e.g. transformation processes,land conversions, use of resources) and biophysicalagents such as geomorphology, climate and naturalcycles need to be considered. Emergy Analysis(spelled with an “m”) is then used as an environmentalaccounting method to evaluate different categoriesof resource use with reference to their environmentalcost. A case study of the Province of Cagliari (in theisland of Sardinia, Italy) is reported and the procedurefor allocating emergy flows, assigning them todistricts and managing point data is discussed. Outcomesplotted on a map showed non-homogeneousspatial distribution of emergy flows throughout theregion, suggesting the way ecosystem functions areaffected and restructured by the human economy.