Quantifying potential anthropogenic resources of buildings through hot spot analysis

This study estimates the amount of urban ores in Taipei City between 1965 and 2014 by analyzing data of the buildings through statistics and geographical information systems (GIS). Hot spot analysis (HSA) is introduced to assess the location of resources. Our results show that up to the year 2014, 186 Mton of construction materials were accumulated in Taipei, and the per capita total building material stock was 68 ton. In the short term, the hot spots with development potential are Da’an (Zone I) and Zhongshan (Zone II) Districts in Taipei City. Zone I (0.1 km2) stored 180 kton of materials; while Zone II (0.6 km2) stored 119 kton of materials. This study provides quantitative data on urban ores with high spatial and temporal resolution for enhancing material recycling planning and management. Material stocks could then combine with the material flow to build a dynamic material flow model for assessing the quantity of extractable urban ores, and the feasibility of exploitation in the future.