An investigation into the urban energy-economy nexus

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Energy is arguably the most important resource for economic growth since most vital cityinfrastructures require energy. The majority of the world's population now live in cities, which isalso where the vast majority of the world's energy is consumed. The pressures and potentials toreconcile economic growth and the sustainable use of resources are thus greatest in cities. Thisstudy investigates the city-level relationship between energy consumption and economic growth.Therefore, to answer the research questions posed in the study, the Spearman Correlation Test andthe Granger Causality Test were employed to search for correlations and causalities between energyconsumption and economic growth. The study performed analyses on three cities, namely: CapeTown (South Africa), Wellington (New Zealand) and Barcelona (Spain). These three cities sharesimilar economic profiles yet have vastly different energy consumption patterns. Decoupling is acentral concept of this study; it was defined as a term to describe the efforts to break the linkbetween economic growth and the depletion of resources and the degradation of environments. Itwas found that when cities showed signs of decoupling, the correlation between energy consumption and economic growth was lost. Through investigating these three cities' energyeconomynexus, it was found that Wellington showed the most impressive decoupling. Therefore,Wellington's policy interventions were studied to find a cause of this decoupling. It was found thatthe city employed a carbon tax, a strong environmental-awareness campaign, and an increasedinvestment in public transport while reducing investment in road infrastructure. This combinationbrought about a modal shift where citizens adopted energy-efficiency technologies and publictransport. This study therefore recommends this combination as a model for decoupling. Finally,this study has shown the importance of inter-city learning, and argues that cities should be openabout policy interventions in order to speed up the transition to a green economy. This studyrecommends a systems analysis of the urban energy-economy nexus in order to fully understandthe dynamics between energy consumption and economic performance.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University