Urban expansion can be seen as the most pervasive human impact on the environment where its high resource use contributes negatively to climate change and resource scarcity crises. Many experts call for decoupling resource use, economic development, and related urban development especially within cities of the Global South. This paper focuses on investigating resource efficiency through the lens of urban metabolism. It investigates current resource flows, through material flow analysis, from source to sink, in two diverse districts in Cairo: a formal district and an informal one, regarding materials (waste) and mobility. Consequently, the paper discusses locally responsive interventions that address local priorities as opposing to citywide one‐size fits all solution. The paper relies on parcel audits, which are embedded in an Urban Metabolism Information System developed by the Ecocity Builders and their partners, through a joint project with Cairo University. The methodology couples crowd‐sourced data, parcel audits, and experts’ knowledge to better understand resource flows based on a bottom‐up approach, given the unavailability of governmental data on the local level. The paper further correlates the perceived quality of life with the actual resource flows. It utilizes fieldwork investigations to argue against the local misconceptions regarding the inefficiency of informal areas/systems versus the higher efficiency of planned areas/systems. The paper concludes by proposing integrated solutions that respond to local needs and resources. It highlights the challenges and lessons of this tailored bottom‐up approach and its applicability in other cities worldwide.

中文翻译：

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通过城市新陈代谢重新认识开罗：快速城市化城市中正式和非正式地区的资源流动表现

城市扩张可视为人类对环境的最普遍影响，其大量资源使用对气候变化和资源稀缺危机产生负面影响。许多专家呼吁将资源利用，经济发展以及相关的城市发展脱钩，尤其是在全球南方城市内部。本文着重从城市新陈代谢的角度研究资源效率。它通过物质流分析，调查了开罗两个不同地区从资源到汇的当前资源流：正式区和非正式区，涉及物质（废物）和流动性。因此，本文讨论了针对当地优先事项的针对当地情况的干预措施，与全市范围内的全尺寸解决方案相反。该文件依赖于包裹审核，通过与开罗大学的联合项目，将其嵌入由Ecocity Builders及其合作伙伴开发的城市新陈代谢信息系统中。该方法论结合了众包数据，包裹审核和专家的知识，以基于自下而上的方法更好地理解资源流，因为当地政府数据不可用。本文进一步将感知的生活质量与实际资源流相关联。它利用实地调查来反对当地对非正规区域/系统效率低下与计划区域/系统效率更高的误解。本文最后提出了能够响应当地需求和资源的集成解决方案。