Industrial Ecology promises to be a new exciting platform for planning - for regional development and for business. Such plans are built on an understanding of the flow of material and energy in a defined system and not just on the basis of monetary indicators. Such a system of planning is particularly relevant in developing countries, where resources are often priced according to the ability of the citizens to pay rather than on the basis of market forces.

Industrial Ecology would be relevant in a variety of fields - some of which are planning agro-industrial systems, transportation systems, land use management and planning industrial estates.