La medida y modelización de la sostenibilidad: caso de estudio La huella ecológica y los escenarios de futuro de la ciudad de Terrassa

There is a clear need to improve the knowledge of systems (features, emergent properties, relationships, causes and impacts) with a view to optimizing policy and management decisionmaking to ensure the sustainable development of the humanity-environment binomial. This article
presents a specific case study in which several systemic tools and methods are applied to shed light on a system as complex as that of a city and to analyse the evolution of the ecological footprint of the city of Terrassa (Barcelona, Spain) in various socio-economic scenarios, with a
view to designing policies and/or actions to enhance the sustainability of the city. First, an environmental impact index—the ecological footprint of the municipality—is calculated; the ecological footprint and socioeconomic factors are then modeled using system dynamics to study the evolution of the Terrassa system and to envision and analyse the best way to attain sustainability. As an added value, the results of this study are analysed and compared with the current reality of the city, and the validity of the results are verified.