Footprint of a City

RBF Consulting

Every city has a carbon footprint. This map uses GIS technology to explore the carbon footprint of a portion of San Diego, California. It compares and contrasts various land uses and presents some surprising facts about what really makes up the "Footprint of a City."

A carbon footprint is a measure of the greenhouse gases (GHG) that are produced by the activities of a person, a family, an institution, a business, or even an animal or a product. Within a city, an individual's carbon footprint is the direct effect of one's actions and lifestyle, from the electricity and water we use, to our transportation, our diet, and the clothes we wear. Each of our choices involves emission of GHG and has a direct or indirect impact in acceleration of climate change. Greenhouse gas computations for a community are composed of emissions from multiple sectors. The most common sectors that are calculated for a community are water, building energy, solid waste, and transportation.

Courtesy of RBF Consulting, 2010.

Map Book Page [PDF]