Urbanization and the Geoenvironment - Sustainable Practices in Geoenvironmental Engineering - page 245

Energy
Energy cost
Ratio of renewable to
nonrenewable energy use
Alternative fuel cars

Sustainability indicators

Food and agriculture
Number of gardens
Food and agricultural
residue recycling
Training programs regarding
sustainable agriculture

Biodiversity
Plant and tree growth
Types of birds
Monitoring and managing
efforts for biodiversity
Habitat and biodiversity

Sustainable urban area

Waste
Tonnes of solid waste
Recycling rate
Conservation and waste reduction
(energy or waste)
% participating in recycling
Hazardous waste exposure
Contaminated sites with city limits
Public awareness on wastes
% of motor oil recycling

Water
Water consumption
Mass of contaminants in wastewater
Recycled water use
Acres of habitat restored
Sewer overflow events

FIGURE 7.12
Selected sustainability indicators for the city of San Francisco that affect the geoenvironment. (Yong et al.,
20 06.)

indicator system is the Global City Indicators Program (GCIP) funded by the World Bank
(GCI, 2014).
Environmental indicators are generally associated with such elements or parameters as
water, energy, solid wastes, air, and land use. For example, in regard to waste, one is inter-
ested in quantities (a) generated, (b) disposed, and (c) recycled. Other indicators regard-
ing urban planning are (a) areal size of informal settlements as a percentage of city area,
(b) green area (hectares) per 100,000 population. Water indicators track (a) wastewater
treatment facilities with primary, secondary, and tertiary treatment, (b) water consumption
(c) water loss, and (d) water service interruption per household. For energy, the indicators
are generally concerned with (a) use of energy and its form (less polluting energy sources
are favored) and (b) amount of energy used, (c) power interruptions (d) % of city popula-
tion with electrical service. Air quality indicators seek to provide controls on (a) PM10
concentration and (b) GHG emissions due to transportation, industry, and the energy sec-
tor. A water quality index, greenhouse gas index, and total energy use indices are under
development. Others for land quality and use should also be included.
Table 7.8 shows and index value system developed for Amsterdam (Jonkhoff and van
Eijnatten, 2012). The indicators are valued equally and use 2010 as the base that is indexed
at 100. As the value decreases, this indicates a more sustainable city that was occurring as
a preliminary basis in 2011.