A Multi‐Scale Analysis of Low‐Rise Apartment Water Demand through Integration of Water Consumption, Land Use, and Demographic Data

Abstract

Over the past decades, multi‐unit housing developments have been vastly expanded across urban areas due to the population growth. To properly supply water to this growing sector, it is essential to understand the determinants of its water use. However, this task has largely remained unexplored through the empirical study of water demand mainly due to the scarcity of data in this sector. This study integrated apartment water consumption, property characteristics, weather, water pricing, and census microdata to overcome this issue. Using a rich source of GIS‐based urban databases in Auckland, New Zealand, the study developed a large dataset containing the information of 18,000 low‐rise apartments to evaluate the determinants of water use both in the household scale and aggregated scale. The household‐scale demand analysis helped to assess the heterogeneity in responses to the demand drivers specifically water price across different consumer groups, whereas the aggregated analysis revealed the determinants behind the spatial variation in water demand at the census area unit level. Through applying panel data models, the study revealed the household size as the most important determinant of apartment water use in Auckland, where other socioeconomic factors, building features, and water pricing were not significant determinants. This knowledge of determinants of water demand can help water planners to better manage water demand in the compact urban environments.

Evaluating the determinants of high-rise apartment water demand through integration of water consumption, land use and demographic data

“…This study showed that the household size is the most influential determinant of high-rise apartment water consumption in Auckland, while other socioeconomic factors, property characteristics, water pricing and weather variables were not significant determinants. In general, this result is in agreement with the findings of the study of low-rise apartment water use in Auckland (Ghavidelfar et al, 2016a). However, in the low-rise apartments the air temperature had a positive correlation with water consumption and the effect of water pricing, although very small, was statistically significant.…”

“…transition from large single houses to the more intensified multi-unit housings) is an ongoing phenomenon in many major cities around the world. The findings of this research in conjunction with other studies that investigated low-rise and single house water use in Auckland (Ghavidelfar et al, 2016a(Ghavidelfar et al, , 2017b) can help water infrastructure/water companies to better understand the implications of housing intensification for water use and to evaluate the effects of urban development policy on future water demand (Ghavidelfar et al, 2017a).…”

“…four or more storey buildings) in Auckland, New Zealand. The results are also compared with a study by Ghavidelfar et al (2016a) evaluating low-rise apartment water use in Auckland. Since in Auckland the majority of high-rise apartments are concentrated in the central city while the low-rise apartments are available across the city with a lower density, this comparison can help to reveal the effects of densifying central city areas on urban water consumption.…”

Determining the Impact of High Residential Density on Indoor Environment, Energy Use, and Moisture Loads in Swedish Apartments-and Measures for Mitigation

“…Adebayo and Iweka [18] conducted a study to assess the variation in residential density in Lagos, Nigeria. Besides interview studies, there are those who linked household size with factors such as housing design [19], waste management [20], heating needs [21], hot water use [21], electricity use [22], household electricity use [20], water use [23][24][25], and children's exposure to tobacco smoke [26].…”