Downscaling the planetary boundaries (Pbs) framework to city scale-level: De-risking MENA region’s environment future

Abstract

Modern cities are considered as the most harmful artifacts created by mankind since 5400 BCE within the Sumerian civilization (Eridu). Since then, cities have continued to proliferate and expand across the world accompanying homo sapiens revolutions and becoming the origin of many environmental disruptions. Indeed, modern societies’ behaviors and lifestyle patterns are pushing the urban system dynamics to be more complex and more dependent on the global economic market. Likewise, redesigning modern cities and industrialized societies to cope up with the contemporary environmental challenges is inevitable for maintaining Earth’s life-support system. Our study provides the first glimpse estimations of different footprints (CO2; Harvested primary corps; Raw Material Inputs; Nitrogen; Phosphorus; Cropland pasture land and Freshwater) for big cities in the MENA region broken down into five major consumption categories using an Extended-Environmental Input-Output (EE-IO) analysis which shed light on the relation between urban economic consumption and associated environmental impacts. Down-scaling the planetary boundaries indicators (Pbs) to city scale level can be used to reinforce the operational scope of existing urban sustainability agendas or in designing new urban tools to better orchestrating growing economies into the global environment sustainability issues. To our knowledge, this study is the first on downscaling the Pbs framework to city scale level and providing first footprints insights on a part of the world that is not enough scientifically explored. Keywords: Planetary boundaries, Urban metabolism, City footprints, Urban sustainability, Input-output analysis, Consumers responsibility, Middle east and North Africa