Guiding cities under increased droughts: The limits to sustainable urban futures

Roger Cremades, Anabel Sanchez-Plaza, Richard J Hewitt, Hermine Mitter, Jacopo A. Baggio, Marta Olazabal, Annelies Broekman, Bernadette Kropf and Nicu Constantin Tudose

Ecological Economics, 2021, vol. 189, issue C

Abstract: Climate change is likely to increase droughts. The vulnerability of cities to droughts is increasing worldwide. Policy responses from cities to droughts lack consideration of long-term climatic and socio-economic scenarios, and focus on short-term emergency actions that disregard sustainability in the connected regional and river basin systems. We aim to explore the dynamics of the water-energy-land nexus in urban systems suffering increased climate change-related droughts, and their implications for sustainability. We complement a case study with a literature review providing cross-regional insights, and detail pervasive knowledge, policy and ambition gaps in the interaction between cities and droughts. We show that water availability with low emissions, without compromising ecosystems and with low costs to society, poses a local-scale limit to sustainable urban growth, a new concept delineating the limits to growth in cities. We conclude that urban and river basin planners need to institutionalize transparency and cross-sectoral integration in multi-sector partnerships, to consider long-term land use planning together with water and energy, and to apply integrated climate services to cities. Our study reveals the importance of including land, water and energy in long-term urban planning, and to connect them with the county, region, river basin and global scales.

Keywords: Water-Energy-Land Nexus; Climate Change; Urban Land Use System; Metropolitan Area; Climate Services; Water Scarcity; Limits to Growth; Mediterranean Basin; Benidorm (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:189:y:2021:i:c:s0921800921001981

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolecon.2021.107140

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