Urban Metabolic Risk: A Literature Review Towards a New Definition

In contemporary cities environmental, social, and economic dynamics interact, often in a fragile balance, exacerbating existing multi-risk conditions. Urban Metabolic Risk (UMR) emerges as an innovative paradigm to understand how urban dynamics and transformations can amplify systemic vulnerabilities and compromise urban resilience. Through a Literature Review, this study highlights disciplinary frag-mentation and the lack of a holistic approach to analyzing Urban Metabolism and risk studies. The findings show that UMR is not only a consequence of local imbalances but a structural phenomenon arising from unsustainable urban development patterns. The analysis reveals several key themes emerging within interdisciplinary boundaries in relation to territorial risk from a metabolic perspective, which may prove to be fertile ground for future research, including the development of territorial regener-ation strategies. The study emphasizes the urgency of overcoming sectoral views by integrating Urban Metabolism into strategic planning and spatial design. Only an interdisciplinary and systemic approach can transform cities into more adap-tive organisms capable of facing future challenges with greater effectiveness and sustainability.