Analyzing ecological footprint of residential building construction in Adama City, Ethiopia

Background The pressure of urbanization on the earth’s ecosystem is becoming unprecedented and urges a clear policy at all levels. Urbanization in Ethiopia is so swift that needs to balance its pace with resources the urban way of life need. For this, a residential neighborhood in Adama City is considered and checked for its sustainability using the ecological footprint (EF) method. Cluster analysis and regression analysis were used for grouping the sampled residences and relating EF with the combination of family size, floor area and plot area, respectively. Computing the biocapacity of the country, the level of resource consumption for residential building construction was compared and contrasted. Result The results show that from 1.084 to 8.146 gha/capita resources were consumed and the overall EF is found to be 2.952 gha/capita. The deficit is found to be 1.277 gha/capita, indicates that the existing practice is not sustainable. Moreover, the significant relationship is found between the EF and the linear combination of floor area, family size and plot area. Besides, the EF is sensitive to the variability of floor area. Conclusions In line with the growing concern of sustainable urban growth, planners and stakeholders should recognize where there is over-utilization of natural capital and plan a new heading before negative outcomes become irreversible. Formulation of policies for sustainable resource use should also aim to create a balance between ecological and socio-economic needs.