Ecological Footprints and Appropriated Carrying Capacity: What Urban Economics Leaves Out

Urbanisation ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-77 ◽  
Author(s):  
William E. Rees
Keyword(s):  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Urban Economics ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Ecological Change ◽  
Ecological Footprints ◽  
Human Carrying Capacity

This article uses the concepts of human carrying capacity and natural capital to develop a framework to evaluate a city’s ‘ecological footprint’. It argues that prevailing economic assumptions regarding urbanisation and the sustainability of cities must be revised in light of global ecological change.

scholarly journals Fairness analysis and compensation strategy in the Triangle of Central China  driven by water-carbon-ecological footprints

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yizhong Chen ◽  
Hongwei Lu ◽  
Jing Li ◽  
Youfeng Qiao ◽  
Pengdong Yan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Regional Development ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Water Footprint ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Evaluation Framework ◽  
Central China ◽  
Ecological Compensation ◽  
Carbon Footprints ◽  
Ecological Footprints

Abstract This study proposes water–carbon–ecological footprints to form footprint family indicators for identifying the ecological compensation and regional development equilibrium in the Triangle of Central China (TOCC). The occupation of natural capital stock and flow consumption can be illustrated through a three-dimensional ecological footprint model, and Gini coefficient is integrated into the evaluation framework for fairness measurement from various aspects. Quantificational ecological compensation standards can be given with concerns of ecological resource conversion efficiency and willingness to pay indicators. Results reveal that there exit rising trends in ecological and carbon footprints in the TOCC from 2000 to 2015, while its water footprint presents a fluctuating trend. A majority of average Gini coefficients exceed the warning value (i.e., 0.4) under different footprints, implying a relatively poor overall fairness of regional development. In terms of water footprint, the relatively higher compensation expenses exist in Jingmen, Xiangtan, and Yichun, while Yichang, Zhuzhou, and Fuzhou have higher received compensation values as compared with other cities. When it comes to carbon footprint, Wuhan, Loudi, and Xinyu should pay higher compensation expenses due to their overuse of biological resources. The highest amounts of compensation expense appear in Nanchang and Wuhan from the perspective of ecological footprint.

Urban Planning in Resource-Based Cities Based on Ecological Footprint and Ecological Carrying Capacity

2015 ◽  
Vol 744-746 ◽  
pp. 2236-2240
Author(s):  
Meng Zhang ◽  
Zhao Hua Lu ◽  
Jin Fang Zhu ◽  
Fei Fei Tan
Keyword(s):  
Urban Planning ◽  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Assessment Model ◽  
Coastal Protection ◽  
Ecological Footprints ◽  
Ecological Carrying Capacity ◽  
The Future ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Urban Regulation

Most of resource-based cities (RBC) are the result of resource-based industrialization processes and were built on mining areas, leading to heterogeneous composition and distribution of urban areas which were lacking of proper urban planning guidance. The unique urbanization processes in RBC resulted in severe fragmentation of habitats and environmental exacerbation and generated negative impacts to human well-being. In this research, an assessment model based on ecological footprint (EF) and ecological carrying capacity (EC) was used to detect the trend of urbanization in Tangshan city. In this model, we created four new indicators which could enrich EF and EC with economic and social dimensions, and categorized six types of ecological footprints into three main kinds of ecological footprints. The results indicated that (a) the EF per capita and the EC per capita have had enormous increment and decrement respectively; (b) ecological tension and ecological occupancy presented a constant increasing trend while the ecological sustainability was continuously decreasing in this period; and (c) almost all of the six indicators were in an unbalanced status in the comprehensive grading system worldwide. We suggest that (a) a diversified energy consumption structure and an energy-saving urban system should be accomplished in the future urban regulation; (b) any shrinkage of fisheries should be avoided in the future urban regulation, and coastal protection and offshore fishing should be prioritized.

scholarly journals Application of Ecological Footprint Accounting as a Part of an Integrated Assessment of Environmental Carrying Capacity: A Case Study of the Footprint of Food of a Large City

Resources ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Świąder ◽  
Szymon Szewrański ◽  
Jan Kazak ◽  
Joost van Hoof ◽  
David Lin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Resource Dependence ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Large City ◽  
Human Consumption ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Bottom Up ◽  
Environmental Carrying Capacity ◽  
The City

The increasing rate of urbanization along with its socio-environmental impact are major global challenges. Therefore, there is a need to assess the boundaries to growth for the future development of cities by the inclusion of the assessment of the environmental carrying capacity (ECC) into spatial management. The purpose is to assess the resource dependence of a given entity. ECC is usually assessed based on indicators such as the ecological footprint (EF) and biocapacity (BC). EF is a measure of the biologically productive areas demanded by human consumption and waste production. Such areas include the space needed for regenerating food and fibers as well as sequestering the generated pollution, particularly CO2 from the combustion of fossil fuels. BC reflects the biological regeneration potential of a given area to regenerate resources as well to absorb waste. The city level EF assessment has been applied to urban zones across the world, however, there is a noticeable lack of urban EF assessments in Central Eastern Europe. Therefore, the current research is a first estimate of the EF and BC for the city of Wrocław, Poland. This study estimates the Ecological Footprint of Food (EFF) through both a top-down assessment and a hybrid top-down/bottom-up assessment. Thus, this research verifies also if results from hybrid method could be comparable with top-down approach. The bottom-up component of the hybrid analysis calculated the carbon footprint of food using the life cycle assessment (LCA) method. The top-down result of Wrocław’s EFF were 1% greater than the hybrid EFF result, 0.974 and 0.963 gha per person respectively. The result indicated that the EFF exceeded the BC of the city of Wrocław 10-fold. Such assessment support efforts to increase resource efficiency and decrease the risk associated with resources—including food security. Therefore, there is a need to verify if a city is able to satisfy the resource needs of its inhabitants while maintaining the natural capital on which they depend intact.

scholarly journals Assessing Ecological Carrying Capacity in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Based on a Three-Dimensional Ecological Footprint Model

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (22) ◽  
pp. 9705
Author(s):  
Ye-Ning Wang ◽  
Qiang Zhou ◽  
Hao-Wei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Natural Capital ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Footprint Model ◽  
Ecological Carrying Capacity ◽  
Ecological Deficit ◽  
Bay Area ◽  
Utilization Patterns

As one of the most developed and competitive metropolitan areas in the world, the contradiction between resource depletion and sustainable development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GHMGBA) has become a crucial issue nowadays. This paper analyzed the natural capital utilization patterns in GHMGBA during 2009–2016 based on a three-dimensional ecological footprint model. Ecological carrying capacity intensity (ECintensity) was calculated to optimize the accounting of ecological carrying capacity (EC). Ecological footprint depth (EFdepth) and ECintensity were quantitatively investigated and influencing factors were further explored based on a partial least squares (PLS) model. Results showed that GHMGBA had been operating in a deficit state due to the shortage of natural capital flow and accumulated stock depletion. The highest EFdepth occurred in Macao (17.11~26.21) and Zhongshan registering the lowest (2.42~3.58). Cropland, fossil energy and construction land constituted the most to total ecological deficit, while woodland was continuously in a slight surplus. Natural capital utilization patterns of 11 cities were divided into four categories through hierarchical clustering analysis. Driving factors of EFdepth, ECintensity and three-dimensional ecological deficit (ED3D) were mainly students in primary and secondary education, disposable income, consumption expenditure, R&D personnel and freight volume. Our findings could provide guidance for decision-makers to develop resource utilization portfolios in GHMGBA.

scholarly journals Time-Varying Convergences of Environmental Footprint Levels between European Countries

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (7) ◽  
pp. 1813
Author(s):  
Durmuş Çağrı Yıldırım ◽  
Seda Yıldırım ◽  
Seyfettin Erdoğan ◽  
Işıl Demirtaş ◽  
Gualter Couto ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
Unit Root Test ◽  
Data Availability ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Time Varying ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Ecological Footprints ◽  
Window Method ◽  
International Policies ◽  
Rolling Window

This study proposes the time-varying nonlinear panel unit root test to investigate the convergence of ecological foot prints between the EU and candidate countries. Sixteen European countries (such as Albania, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden and Turkey) and analysis periods are selected according to data availability. This study proposes a cross-sectional Panel KSS with Fourier to test the convergence of the ecological footprints. Then, we combine this methodology with the rolling window method to take into account the time-varying stationarity of series. This study evaluated sub-components of ecological footprints separately and provided more comprehensive findings for the ecological footprint. According to empirical findings, this study proves that convergence or divergence does not show continuity over time. On the other side, this study points out the presence of divergence draws attention when considering the properties of the sub-components in general. As a result, this study shows that international policies by EU countries are generally accepted as successful to reduce ecological footprint, but these are not sufficient as expected. In this point, it is suggested to keep national policies to support international policies in the long term.

Application of Modified Ecological Footprint Model: A Case Study of Tibet, China

2013 ◽  
Vol 295-298 ◽  
pp. 987-991
Author(s):  
Guan Nan Cui ◽  
Xuan Wang
Keyword(s):  
Economic System ◽  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Ecological Footprint ◽  
System Development ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
Emergy Analysis ◽  
Development Index ◽  
Footprint Model ◽  
Ecological Carrying Capacity

To improve the ecological footprint model in aspect of reflecting sustainability of the economic, social and technological, the emergy analysis and socio-economic system development index were introduced into the model. The modified ecological footprint model was applied in the calculation of ecological carrying capacity and ecological footprint in Tibet, China. The ecological carrying capacity/cap is 19.13hm2, and the ecological footprint/cap is 8.96hm2. The result shows that the Tibet region is under the condition of ecological surplus and it is suitable for further programs development to some extent. But the high proportion of energy resources, cement and fertilizer utility should draw attention during the exploitation or construction progress.

Carrying capacity and ecological footprint of Taiwan

2017 ◽  
pp. 207-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yung-Jaan Lee ◽  
Chuan-Ming Tung ◽  
Shih-Chien Lin
Keyword(s):  
Carrying Capacity ◽  
Ecological Footprint
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document