Urban sprawl and its effects on water competition between building industry and residents: Evidence from 31 provinces in China

Abstract

With accelerated urban sprawl, water scarcity and increased water stress have become global issues. Water of building industry and domestic water are two major contributors to total water consumption that cannot be ignored. This paper seeks to emphasize the effects of urban sprawl on water competition between building industry and residents. To achieve this objective, a framework for quantifying the water usage of the life cycle of the building was first constructed. Additionally, the degree of urban sprawl and water competition between domestic and building industry was computed. This study characterized the evolution path of urban sprawl and water competition using standard deviation ellipse. Spatial econometric models were used to determine the impact of urban sprawl on water competition. The results indicate that there is a high spatial correlation between urban sprawl and water competition. The center of gravity of China's urban sprawl is consistent with the north-to-south movement of water competition. As economic sprawl increases by 1%, water competition will rise by 0.440%. As the population expands by 1%, the water competition index shifts by 0.018%. Moreover, 0.017% more water was used for every 1% increase in land sprawl.