Metrics of Local Environmental Sustainability: A Case Study in Auckland, New Zealand

ABSTRACT Environmental impacts, in addition to economic, social and cultural drivers, have significant implications in the evolution of more sustainable urban forms. This paper presents the results of calculating potential local environmental sustainability using ecological footprint techniques in terms of five main aspects— domestic energy; transportation; vegetation cover; food; waste—for five residential urban form case studies in Auckland, New Zealand. This quantitative study formulates a comprehensive methodology for measuring comparative sustainability performances and identifies important residential urban form descriptors. As measured in this research, low-density urban forms may have more potential to be sustainable compared with other compact urban forms which may require a change of behavioural patterns for the residents