SUSTAINING THE CITY: A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS OF THE CO2 EMISSIONS AND ENERGY CONSUMPTION OF NEW YORK CITY AND ATLANTA

摘要

America's cities currently face a number of difficulties in the aftermath of the Great Recession of 2008. While economic development is positioned (and likely always will) first in city efforts, sustainable development is also of concern. These two are not without overlap; most good definitions of sustainability include economic, social, and environmental sustainability. Each of these can be broken down into different components. In this paper, two particular areas of sustainability related to all three components are investigated: energy and CO2 emissions. A comprehensive carbon and energy footprint comprised of residential, commercial, industrial, and transportation consumption is developed for New York City and Atlanta and the two are compared briefly. New York City is found to emit nearly twice the CO2 of Atlanta, although per capita emissions are roughly 50% lower. This methodology presents an opportunity for analyzing the sustainability of cities when combined with a definition of sustainability based on the pursuit of the public interest and the preservation of development opportunities.