Beyond the techno-reductionism of nature: potential of the concepts of metabolism and biomimicry

Abstract

From a territorialist perspective, the territory is understood to be a highly complex living organism resulting from long-term co-evolutionary processes between humans and nature. It is also considered to be a subject that reacts to external disturbances through internal adaptation processes. As an evolving organism, the territory is characterised by its specific adaptive metabolism, the symbiotic result of natural and anthropogenic metabolic cycles. While nature is often viewed as a mere resource reserve within an anthropocentric and neoliberal framework, it is precisely in the delicate yet pivotal relationship between natural and anthropogenic cycles of extraction, production and consumption that we can envisage transcending a technocratic perspective on nature, which frequently results in eco-catastrophic consequences. This allows us to strive for a virtuous and generative equilibrium between humans and nature. The concept of urban-territorial metabolism has long been used as a metaphor, producing technocratic approaches that reduce nature to an economic factor, as well as eco-sustainable visions based on resource sharing and conviviality. This contribution explores the metabolic-biomimetic paradigm as a theoretical and operational device for ecological transition. It promotes a reformulation of urban planning knowledge in ecological terms that can orient design towards models of regenerative and resilient territorial development.