Public thesis defense Alejandra Acevedo de Los Rios
lab | Louvain-la-Neuve, Bruxelles Saint-Gilles, Tournai
A Systemic Urban Metabolism Framework for Food Security in Informal Settlements: Integrating System Dynamics, Spatial Analysis, and Parametric Design
Monday October 19th, 2026 - 1pm - Auditorium AR-38 - Rue Wafelaerts, 47-51 - 1060 Bruxelles
Rapid urbanization, climate change, and structural inequality have intensified food insecurity in informal settlements across the Global South. Focusing on Metropolitan Lima, Peru, this dissertation investigates how urban agriculture (UA) can be operationalized to strengthen food security while accounting for the spatial, infrastructural, social, and governance conditions that shape the development of informal settlements. The research develops and validates the Systemic Urban Metabolism Framework (SUMF), an evidence-based decision-support methodology integrating urban metabolism, system dynamics, spatial analysis, network analysis, and social-science-informed interpretation. Grounded in a 249-household survey conducted in Ciudad de Gosen, Villa María del Triunfo, the framework quantifies food, energy, water, and waste flows; identifies high-leverage variables through network analysis; models alternative UA scenarios; and maps productive opportunities across parcels and interstitial spaces. Results show that UA can make a substantial contribution to local vegetable demand while generating additional environmental and resource benefits. However, productive capacity alone does not determine performance. Water access, tenure security, community organization, governance capacity, collective maintenance, and the distribution of household labor are equally important. The SUMF therefore provides a transferable methodology for planning and evaluating context-sensitive UA interventions in informal settlements, provided that its parameters are recalibrated to local conditions and validated through participatory processes.
Jury members
Prof. Claeys Damien (UCLouvain), Supervisor & secretary
Prof. Dyson Anna (Yale University, United States), Supervisor
Prof. Pleitinx Renaud (UCLouvain), Chairperson
Prof. Biondi Antunez de Mayolo Susana (Universidad Católica del Perú, Perú)
Prof. Quino Javier (Universidad de Lima, Perú)
Prof. Lyons Ben (University of Southern Queensland, Australia)
Prof. Dovey Kim (University of Melbourne, Australia)