Impact of China’s Urbanization on Water Use and Energy Consumption: An Econometric Method and Spatiotemporal Analysis

• Published in: Water (Basel) Vol. 10; no. 10; p. 1323
• Main Authors: Wang, Yan, Xiao, Weihua, Wang, Yicheng, Zhao, Yong, Wang, Jianhua, Hou, Baodeng, Song, Xinyi, Zhang, Xuelei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 01.10.2018
• Subjects: Analysis; Aquatic resources; China; cointegration test; energy consumption; Granger causality test; spatiotemporal analysis; urbanization; Water use; China
• ISSN: 2073-4441; 2073-4441
• DOI: 10.3390/w10101323

As important subsystems of the urban environment, water resources and energy are necessary for normal urban functions and play an important supporting role in urbanization. The rapid development of China’s economy is increasingly dependent on these two subsystems. Analyses of the relationship between urbanization and water use or energy consumption have become the focus of attention, but researchers have mainly evaluated the impact on the two subsystems separately without providing an integrated analysis, nor have they revealed the link between water use and energy consumption. We addressed this information gap by using an econometric method to empirically investigate the long-term equilibrium relationships and Granger causal relationships among urbanization, water use, and energy consumption in China, and by conducting a spatiotemporal analysis to identify the trends of water use intensity and energy consumption intensity under the effects of urbanization during 2005–2015. We found long-term equilibrium relationships among urbanization, water use, and energy consumption. Granger causality results reveal the presence of a unidirectional Granger causal relationship running from urbanization to energy consumption and to water use, and bidirectional causality between energy consumption and water use. Moreover, water use intensity and energy consumption intensity decreased significantly under urbanization during the study period.