Servitization in Support of Sustainable Cities: What Are Steel’s Contributions and Challenges?

Julian T. M. Pinto, Manuel E. Morales, Mariia Fedoruk, Marina Kovaleva and Arnaud Diemer
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Julian T. M. Pinto: European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Programme, Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellowship Actions in Excellent Research, AdaptEconII Project, Clermont-Ferrand 63000, France
Manuel E. Morales: Centre d’Etudes et de Recherches sur le Développement International (CERDI), Université Clermont-Auvergne, Clermont-Ferrand 63000, France
Mariia Fedoruk: Institute of Ecological Economics, Ukrainian National Forestry University, Lviv 79057, Ukraine
Marina Kovaleva: Department of Environmental Management, American University of Central Asia, Bishkek 79057, Kyrgyzstan
Arnaud Diemer: European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Programme, Marie Skłodowska Curie Fellowship Actions in Excellent Research, AdaptEconII Project, Clermont-Ferrand 63000, France

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 3, 1-18

Abstract: In the pursuit of eco-efficiency, resilience, and self-sufficiency, sustainable cities focus on long-term environmental goals instead of only short-term economic ones. To do so, many of them rely on servitization, the practice of replacing tangible solutions for intangible ones. Considering steel’s wide range of applications and its pervasive presence, this article’s goal was twofold: Not only to understand how servitization helps sustainable cities, but also the contributions and challenges of the steel present in service-providing. To do so, the criteria of sustainable urban metabolism and circles of sustainability were used to analyze three case studies of servitization: energy, housing, and mobility. The results showed that servitization can provide significant benefits to sustainable cities, while also being able to substantially alter the supply-side dynamics of steelmaking by affecting, most notably, demand. This brought to light how important it is for steelmakers to pay close attention to the service-providing initiatives that may concern their clients and products. Nevertheless, further research is necessary to fully understand all of the effects that servitization can have on all of the commodities involved in its implementation.

Keywords: servitization; sustainable cities; steel; circles of sustainability; sustainable urban metabolism (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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