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Updated: Oct 11, 2025
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Design and Construction of an Urban Runoff Research Facility
Published on: August 8, 2014
13.2K
Green urbanization
Jan Eeckhout1, Christoph Hedtrich2
1Department of Economics and ICREA-GSE-CREi, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain.
Plos One
|November 29, 2021
Summary
Large cities are greener, demonstrating greater energy efficiency and reduced waste per capita. Encouraging urbanization can boost economic output while lowering overall energy consumption and waste production.
Area of Science:
- Urban studies
- Environmental science
- Economics
Background:
- Large cities are recognized for higher productivity and economic output per person.
- Previous research suggests a link between urbanization and environmental efficiency, but direct evidence has been limited.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide direct evidence of green urbanization by quantifying the relationship between city size, energy demand, and waste generation.
- To calculate the rate at which per capita electricity use and waste decrease with increasing city population.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of UK data on energy demand and waste generation in relation to city output.
- Calculation of elasticity of energy demand and waste generation with respect to city output.
- Spatial equilibrium modeling with a counterfactual analysis to assess policy impacts.
Main Results:
- Energy demand scales sublinearly with city output, with an elasticity of 83% (Urban Energy Premium of 17%).
- Waste generation also scales sublinearly, with an elasticity of 90% (Urban Waste Premium of 10%).
- Household, transport, and industry energy demand elasticities were found to be 13%, 20%, and 16% respectively.
Conclusions:
- Large cities are more energy-efficient and generate less waste per capita, supporting the concept of green urbanization.
- Policies encouraging urbanization, such as population-contingent income taxes, can increase economic output while simultaneously reducing aggregate energy consumption and waste production.
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