Investigating the Factors Affecting the Ecological Footprint of Sari City

Cities manifesting the world's most consuming ecosystem are responsible for a large part of the world's environmental problems. Knowledge of the ecological conditions prevailing in any regions is essential for achieving development. Ecological Footprint Index (EFI) is of great interest for assessing urban communities as a way to measure the levels of sustainability. In this research, the ecological footprint method, which is a quantitative model, was used to analyze the data and measure the sustainability of urban areas. To this goal, an attempt was made to study the EFI and biological capacity of the urban ecosystem of Sari City by using a descriptive-analytical method and relying on library resources. Ecological footprint in the consumption sector, including housing, services, and transportation, was calculated in 4 areas of Sari City. According to the results of data analysis, the ecological footprint of consumption in the mentioned city was equal to 0.94 global hectares and its biological capacity was 0.59 global hectares per person. Comparison of the biological capacity and ecological footprint of this city showed that it had an ecological deficit and was thus ecologically unstable. Among the footprints calculated in the consumption sector, transportation with the ecological footprint of 46.46969 ha had the most ecological footprint. Also, analyses of the ecological footprints in the 4 regions of Sari City showed that Region 1 had a more footprint than other regions, indicating that it followed a higher consumption pattern, but in general, all areas of Sari City were in an ecologically unstable situation according to the research results.