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Measuring Sustainability of Urban Systems: An Exploration based on Two Metrics for the Chicago Metropolitan Area
Citation:
Argoti-Caicedo, A. AND B. Demeke. Measuring Sustainability of Urban Systems: An Exploration based on Two Metrics for the Chicago Metropolitan Area. NAS– Research Associateship Program (RAP) Site Visit, Cincinnati, OH, August 07 - 08, 2017.
Impact/Purpose:
Presentation at The NAS-NRC – Research Associateship Program (RAP) Site Visit on August 7 and 8, 2017 in Cincinnati, OH
Description:
This presentation is comprised of two sustainability metrics that have been developed for the Chicago Metropolitan Area under SHC research program. The first sustainability metrics is Ecological Foot Print Analysis. Ecological Footprint Analysis (EFA) has been extensively deployed for assessing the sustainability of various environmental systems. EFA aims at capturing the impacts of human activity on the environment by computing the amount of bioproductive land that can support population consumption and the concomitant generation of waste in any given area. Herein, we apply EFA for assessing the sustainability of the Chicago Metropolitan Area (CMA). We estimate the trend in EF for the CMA between 1990 and 2015 to determine if the metropolitan area is moving towards or away from sustainable development. The second sustainability metrics is Green Net Metropolitan Product. In this work, we explore the estimation of economic measure of sustainability for Chicago Metropolitan Area (CMA) based on Green Net Metropolitan Product (GNMP), by adapting the economic models of sustainability at the macroeconomic level to regional sustainability. GNMP aims at amending the limitations of Net Domestic Product (GDP), a classical indicator of economic wellbeing, which fails to account for the degradation of environmental and natural resources caused by economic activities. We collect data for computing GNMP from publicly available secondary sources on variables such as gross metropolitan product, net income, emissions, solid waste, etc. In estimating GNMP for CMA, we have accounted for the damage costs associated with pollution emissions based on marginal damage values obtained from the literature using benefit transfers method. We also account for the marginal damage cost associated with solid waste generation. It is expected that the preliminary results of this exploration serve as guidance for formulating a refined GNMP estimation model for CMA that could be extended for the sustainability assessment of comparable urban systems elsewhere. The two presentations were also presented at ISSST and ISIE joint conference held in Chicago, IL June 25-29.