Ecological Footprint and Water Footprint of Taipei

Taiwan suffers from many natural disasters and is vulnerable to climate change. A continuous increase in its ecological footprint (EF) would pose numerous threats to the city. Taipei is Taiwan’s most densely populated city. Whether its citizens are consuming more resources because of their high income and high degree of urbanization, thereby burdening the environment, warrants study. In contrast to most top-down EF analyses, in this study, 445 residents were surveyed to calculate their carbon, built-up land and water footprints. Gender, occupation, age, education level and personal annual income do not influence water footprint or EF. Moreover, an individual’s water footprint is not correlated with his or her EF. The built-up land footprint that is obtained in this bottom-up study is similar to that in Taiwan’s top-down national footprint account. However, the personal carbon footprint found herein is smaller than that in the national footprint account, because this study asked respondents only about consumption related to everyday activities. Since Taipei residents have a high income and high daily consumption, the water footprint herein is larger than the top-down water footprint. This bottom-up EF analysis reflects residents’ daily consumption patterns and can be used in future urban decision-making.