PROJECT | INDUSTRIAL SYMBIOSIS: THE CASE OF KALUNDBORG

ABSTRACT

This project examines the concept of industrial ecology and its most famous case study: the city and industries of Kalundborg, Denmark. In short, industrial ecology realizes the detractors of a linear production system and models itself after closed-looped natural systems in order to maximize both economic and environmental gains.

After the principles of industrial ecology are explained in more detail, the case of Kalundborg, Denmark is explored. Maps, photographs, charts, data and diagrams all highlight the economic and environmental benefits of the Kalundborg system in order to arrive at points to be learned from Denmark when thinking about the planning and design of other industrial ecosystems throughout the world.

Inspired by Kalundborg, many industrial ecosystems have been either planned or developed in the form of “eco-industrial parks” here in North America. The main point of discussion will be the differences in spatial organization in these cases, fostered by a series of interactive maps.

Lastly, the discussion will center on current mentalities toward vacant, post-industrial urban land and what can be gained by the incorporation of industrial ecology in the design and regeneration of such areas.

This project adresses and raises these questions:

- What is the role of industrial ecology and ecological industrial parks in dealing with energy resources and supply chains of the near future?

-What can be learned from Kalundborg for the successful planning and design of future closed-loop industrial systems?

- How do planned/developed ‘eco-industrial parks’ in North America differ from both one another and Kalundborg spatially, and what are the main causes for these differences?

- In a time of massive brownfield and post-industrial redevelopment, what role does industrial ecology play in the resuscitation of abandoned urban industrial land?

-What are the opportunities for meshing the design and planning professions with the concepts of industrial ecology?

-Design and planning-wise, where are closed-loop industrial systems headed?