ABSTRACT
Holistic measurement of environmental impact is achieved using the carbon footprint. Sustainability is linked to climate change. Changing the climate is not a sustainable thing to do, so reducing the carbon footprint will help to mitigate unsustainable climate change effects such as global warming. Carbon footprint and ecological footprint are two holistic measures for sustainability that measure different things and are therefore not directly comparable. The benefit of having urban indicators is in raising awareness of the issues involved in sustainability as much as trying to make existing urban settlements reduce their environmental impact. The possible value of indicators for the sustainability of the built environment is in alerting residents to the issues involved. The real problem in measuring sustainability comes from two factors – the dominance of human beings and the fact that resources are not allocated on a global basis but depend on national boundaries.
