Vigier, Marie, Ouellet-Plamondon, Claudiane M., Spiliotopoulou, Maria, Moore, Jennie and Rees, William E..
2023.
« To what extent is sustainability addressed at urban scale and how aligned is it with Earth's productive capacity? ».
Sustainable Cities and Society, vol. 96.
Compte des citations dans Scopus : 13.
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Abstract
Humanity's demand for resources exceeds annually the Earth's productive capacity (EPC), defined as the total regenerative and assimilative capacities of our planet. This article asks what role is given to living within EPC by cities in the quest for urban sustainability and how comprehensively are high-income cities assessing and reducing their impact. Our methodology comprises three steps: 1. urban sustainability literature review, 2. verification of sustainability frameworks and indicators aligned with the goal of living within earth's productive capacity, 3. study of high-income cities that have intentionally reduced their carbon footprint over the 1990-2020 period. Eleven sustainability frameworks were identified as fully aligned with the goal of living within EPC. Most cities work with indicators related to climate change; however, a singular focus risks underestimating cities’ total global ecological impacts. A shortlist of 24 cities who achieved at least a 15% reduction in their carbon footprint between 1990 and 2020 was developed. These reductions were insufficient in magnitude to meet climate stability goals. To achieve a just transition towards living within EPC, cities must confront their overconsumption by using EPC compliant tools and frameworks, and develop specific reduction targets considering global limits, local responsibilities, and capacities to mitigate.
| Item Type: | Peer reviewed article published in a journal |
|---|---|
| Professor: | Professor Ouellet-Plamondon, Claudiane |
| Affiliation: | Génie de la construction |
| Date Deposited: | 28 Jun 2023 18:48 |
| Last Modified: | 15 Mar 2025 04:00 |
| URI: | https://espace2.etsmtl.ca/id/eprint/26792 |
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