Integrating life cycle assessment into the framework of environmental impact assessment for urban systems: framework and case study of Masdar City, Abu Dhabi

Abstract: Planning urban expansion under the interconnected Sustainable Development Goals requires a systemic analysis of its environmental impacts. The benefits of integrating the widely used system analysis tool life cycle assessment (LCA) into the planning process tool environmental impact assessment (EIA) are described in the literature. However, not many applications of such an integration have been conducted. The aim of this study is to refine the framework for integrating LCA into the process of EIA and to apply this framework to an example of urban expansion: Masdar City in Abu Dhabi. The integrated framework builds on the complementarity between the scope and assessment steps of the tools and assesses the impacts for the areas of protection: human health, ecosystem, and resources. The framework is then applied to the vehicles, buildings, and infrastructure in the city’s first development phase (DP1). Major environmental stressors include the loss of existing desert ecosystem and the utilization of non-renewable sources of energy at various development stages of DP1. Substituting natural gas-based electricity with solar power could potentially save 46% of current carbon emissions. To mitigate the land transformation impacts, construction of “close-to-nature” artificial habitats, and increased use of low-carbon fuels is suggested

Location
Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
Extent
Online-Ressource
Language
Englisch
Notes
Environments. - 6, 9 (2019) , 105, ISSN: 2076-3298

Classification
Natürliche Ressourcen, Energie und Umwelt
Keyword
Umweltbilanz
Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfung
Masdar City

Event
Veröffentlichung
(where)
Freiburg
(who)
Universität
(when)
2020
Creator

DOI
10.3390/environments6090105
URN
urn:nbn:de:bsz:25-freidok-1516972
Rights
Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
Last update
14.08.2025, 11:00 AM CEST

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Associated

Time of origin

  • 2020

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