A model for the sustainability assessment based on the human development index in districts of Megacity Istanbul (Turkey)

Countries, cities, and districts have many development indexes focusing on socioeconomic problems; however, the natural capital (ecosystem services) used for development is not taken into account. For this reason, it is very important to develop mathematical modeling based on known values in order to obtain ecological footprint (EF) and human development index (HDI) data and make new models on an urban scale. Mathematical models are scientifically accepted methods that are generated using available data when direct measurement is not possible. The hypothesis of the study was based on the EF value obtained from the HDI value in the districts and a new index model called Human Development Ecological Footprint (HDI-EF) was created by using both values together to measure the sustainability of human development. When the HDI district values are compared with HDI-EF district , it has seen that thirty-one districts have the value of HDI district exceeding the HDI-EF district sustainable development boundaries. These districts make the biggest contribution to EF Istanbul value and constitute a great eco-sustainable deficit for Istanbul. The expected situation for an ideal HDI-EF is small EF versus high HDI.