“…Most of the existing methodologies for determining the environmental carrying capacity of a territory are based on estimated flows of resources (water, energy, land) and waste (emissions, solid waste, wastewater) that affect the environmental status (Wackernagel and Rees, 1996;Tang and Ye, 1998;Khanna et al, 1999;Yu and Mao, 2002;Clarke, 2002;Komatsu et al, 2005;Oh et al, 2005;Graymore et al, 2010;Yin et al, 2010;Liu and Borthwick, 2011). These flows are defined as critical flows or sustainability thresholds and can be estimated through complex operations based on policy environmental standards and the capacity of ecosystems to provide resources and assimilate the wastes (Kang and Xu, 2010;Dal Sasso, 2001).…”