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Sustainable Cities and Communities pp 1–10Cite as

Ecological Footprint: Pragmatic Approach to Understanding and Building Sustainable Cities

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Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

Synonym

Ecological impact

Definitions

Ecological footprint is an approach used to measure the impact of human activities on the natural environment (Van den Bergh and Verbruggen 1999; Wackernagel and Rees 1998). It is a common indicator of the quantity of natural environment resources needed to support human systems. These systems can range in specificity from individuals to whole economies (Hoekstra 2009; Wackernagel and Rees 1997). Users of ecological footprinting techniques emphasize that ecological footprint can be differentiated from other sustainability indicators in two important ways (Hoektra 2009). Firstly, it expresses the impact of humanity with a single unit and, secondly, it expresses human impact in relation to Earth’s carrying capacity (i.e., Earth’s ability to support life). Ecological footprint has been popularized due to concerns about Earth’s declining carrying capacity; the footprint proved to be an effective baseline to acknowledge and quantify the current impact...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Global GreenTag Pty Ltd., Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Nana Bortsie-Aryee

  2. UQ Business School, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Cle-Anne Gabriel

Authors
  1. Nana Bortsie-Aryee
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  2. Cle-Anne Gabriel
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Nana Bortsie-Aryee .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. European School of Sustainability, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Center for Neuroscience & Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

  3. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

  4. Istinye University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Pinar Gökcin Özuyar

  5. International Centre for Thriving, University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

Section Editor information

  1. University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

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Bortsie-Aryee, N., Gabriel, CA. (2019). Ecological Footprint: Pragmatic Approach to Understanding and Building Sustainable Cities. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P., Wall, T. (eds) Sustainable Cities and Communities. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71061-7_37-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71061-7_37-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71061-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71061-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Earth and Environm. ScienceReference Module Physical and Materials ScienceReference Module Earth and Environmental Sciences

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