16
building sector, hydrocarbons (refining) and transport (Hamida, 2011; Berghout, 2022), as,
based on its emissions, Algeria ranks 152
nd
worldwide and 3
rd
in Africa (Bouznit & PabloRomero, 2016; Ritchie et al., 2020). The national authorities' concerns include other
components, namely biodiversity, natural ecosystems, and pollution, for which the country
has also adopted multiple tools, such as the Biodiversity Convention. In the same perspective,
Algeria's international engagement has led to the establishment of legal texts at the national
level (EEA/MAT/ONDD, 2012; UNDP, 2018; PNEU/PAM/SPA/RAC, 2018; ANEP, 2022).
Algeria is thus facing the challenges of sustainable development, primarily because of its
modest economic growth, which further complicates access to the knowledge, skills, and
technologies needed to meet the requirements of such development (Djeflat, 2010;
Bouyacoub, 2012a, b). Added to this first complication is the pressure of the country's growing
population, associated with a high demand for resources, services (health, transportation,
employment), and space (Koné, 2014; Boumaza, 2015; Esgalhado et al., 2021). Therefore,
these demands should be held in cities that must be conceived to evolve and meet the
standards of sustainable development, namely efficient economic growth, resource
sustainability, and the well-being of its residents (Djoufelkit, 2008; UN, 2014; Petruzzella &
Sancassani, 2017; Tsaki, 2018). Accordingly, Algeria's development strategies require the
implementation of accounting systems integrating socioeconomic and environmental
parameters to investigate the country's assets and resources, their exploitation rate, and the
possible risks associated with the loss of these resources.
This thesis assesses the use of materials, energy, and surfaces in the different sectors of
activity, including fishing, agriculture and animal husbandry, forestry, urbanization, water
consumption, and urban waste management, in coastal wilayas, which are the main urban
centers of anthropic activity. Hence, this work aims at exploring the sustainability of the two
coastal cities (wilayas) of Algiers and Tipaza based on the ecological footprint analysis EF.
Broadly, the EF measures human activity's dependence on the environment in terms of the
area required for producing goods and resources and the abatement of the related impacts
(Wackernagel & Rees, 1996). This analysis is built on local statistics to comprehensively
describe the investigated environment. Nevertheless, this work was performed in the context
of data scarcity and required additional analysis, such as the urban metabolism analysis and
life cycle assessment.
Beyond providing an analysis of the natural resource' status in Algeria, this study contributes
to the limited literature on EF and life cycle assessment in Algeria. Indeed, the method
described presents a detailed inventory of energy use, carbon dioxide emissions, and land use
associated with each activity sector. In line with the cross-city learning perspective, this work
also aims to provide sufficiently reliable data to allow comparability of Algerian coastal cities
with other cities in different contexts, such as Mediterranean cities. Most importantly, the
purpose is to present the EF as an effective tool that could contribute to the development of
resource management policies, especially at the local level, since the original vision of the EF
founders was to provide a management and planning tool (Rees, 1992; Rees & Wackernagel,
1996), and as a communication and educational tool to raise consumer awareness. In this
regard the two key sections of this manuscript are as follows.
building sector, hydrocarbons (refining) and transport (Hamida, 2011; Berghout, 2022), as,
based on its emissions, Algeria ranks 152
nd
worldwide and 3
rd
in Africa (Bouznit & PabloRomero, 2016; Ritchie et al., 2020). The national authorities' concerns include other
components, namely biodiversity, natural ecosystems, and pollution, for which the country
has also adopted multiple tools, such as the Biodiversity Convention. In the same perspective,
Algeria's international engagement has led to the establishment of legal texts at the national
level (EEA/MAT/ONDD, 2012; UNDP, 2018; PNEU/PAM/SPA/RAC, 2018; ANEP, 2022).
Algeria is thus facing the challenges of sustainable development, primarily because of its
modest economic growth, which further complicates access to the knowledge, skills, and
technologies needed to meet the requirements of such development (Djeflat, 2010;
Bouyacoub, 2012a, b). Added to this first complication is the pressure of the country's growing
population, associated with a high demand for resources, services (health, transportation,
employment), and space (Koné, 2014; Boumaza, 2015; Esgalhado et al., 2021). Therefore,
these demands should be held in cities that must be conceived to evolve and meet the
standards of sustainable development, namely efficient economic growth, resource
sustainability, and the well-being of its residents (Djoufelkit, 2008; UN, 2014; Petruzzella &
Sancassani, 2017; Tsaki, 2018). Accordingly, Algeria's development strategies require the
implementation of accounting systems integrating socioeconomic and environmental
parameters to investigate the country's assets and resources, their exploitation rate, and the
possible risks associated with the loss of these resources.
This thesis assesses the use of materials, energy, and surfaces in the different sectors of
activity, including fishing, agriculture and animal husbandry, forestry, urbanization, water
consumption, and urban waste management, in coastal wilayas, which are the main urban
centers of anthropic activity. Hence, this work aims at exploring the sustainability of the two
coastal cities (wilayas) of Algiers and Tipaza based on the ecological footprint analysis EF.
Broadly, the EF measures human activity's dependence on the environment in terms of the
area required for producing goods and resources and the abatement of the related impacts
(Wackernagel & Rees, 1996). This analysis is built on local statistics to comprehensively
describe the investigated environment. Nevertheless, this work was performed in the context
of data scarcity and required additional analysis, such as the urban metabolism analysis and
life cycle assessment.
Beyond providing an analysis of the natural resource' status in Algeria, this study contributes
to the limited literature on EF and life cycle assessment in Algeria. Indeed, the method
described presents a detailed inventory of energy use, carbon dioxide emissions, and land use
associated with each activity sector. In line with the cross-city learning perspective, this work
also aims to provide sufficiently reliable data to allow comparability of Algerian coastal cities
with other cities in different contexts, such as Mediterranean cities. Most importantly, the
purpose is to present the EF as an effective tool that could contribute to the development of
resource management policies, especially at the local level, since the original vision of the EF
founders was to provide a management and planning tool (Rees, 1992; Rees & Wackernagel,
1996), and as a communication and educational tool to raise consumer awareness. In this
regard the two key sections of this manuscript are as follows.