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A multi-regional input-output analysis of direct and virtual urban water flows to reduce city water footprints in Australia

Publication ,  Journal Article
Islam, KMN; Kenway, SJ; Renouf, MA; Wiedmann, T; Lam, KL
Published in: Sustainable Cities and Society
December 1, 2021

This study focused on understanding what sector-region combinations could be targeted to reduce total city water footprints? We used multi-regional input-output analysis of direct and virtual water, across five Australian capital cities and their supporting regions. The key novelty of this study is the high spatial resolution policy-relevant sub-sectoral analysis to identify sector-region combinations to reduce city water footprints. Virtual water footprints were 8-10 times higher than direct water consumption (per capita) in all studied cities. Virtual water from outside the city boundary is almost 20 times higher than the virtual water sourced from within the city boundary in all studied cities. Water-efficiency programs can significantly reduce the virtual water footprints of the studied cities. This includes water-efficiency and recycling on farm, and in food processing (e.g. livestock feed growing, dairy cattle farming, vegetable growing and processing) in rural regions of New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria. The results are relevant to strategic city water footprints reduction, sustainable sourcing and planning for future disturbance of product supply, and water-sensitive city developments considering both direct and virtual water flows.

Duke Scholars

Published In

Sustainable Cities and Society

DOI

ISSN

2210-6707

Publication Date

December 1, 2021

Volume

75

Related Subject Headings

  • 4406 Human geography
  • 3304 Urban and regional planning
  • 3302 Building
  • 1205 Urban and Regional Planning
  • 0502 Environmental Science and Management
 

Citation

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Islam, K. M. N., Kenway, S. J., Renouf, M. A., Wiedmann, T., & Lam, K. L. (2021). A multi-regional input-output analysis of direct and virtual urban water flows to reduce city water footprints in Australia. Sustainable Cities and Society, 75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103236
Islam, K. M. N., S. J. Kenway, M. A. Renouf, T. Wiedmann, and K. L. Lam. “A multi-regional input-output analysis of direct and virtual urban water flows to reduce city water footprints in Australia.” Sustainable Cities and Society 75 (December 1, 2021). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2021.103236.
Islam KMN, Kenway SJ, Renouf MA, Wiedmann T, Lam KL. A multi-regional input-output analysis of direct and virtual urban water flows to reduce city water footprints in Australia. Sustainable Cities and Society. 2021 Dec 1;75.
Islam, K. M. N., et al. “A multi-regional input-output analysis of direct and virtual urban water flows to reduce city water footprints in Australia.” Sustainable Cities and Society, vol. 75, Dec. 2021. Scopus, doi:10.1016/j.scs.2021.103236.
Islam KMN, Kenway SJ, Renouf MA, Wiedmann T, Lam KL. A multi-regional input-output analysis of direct and virtual urban water flows to reduce city water footprints in Australia. Sustainable Cities and Society. 2021 Dec 1;75.
Journal cover image

Published In

Sustainable Cities and Society

DOI

ISSN

2210-6707

Publication Date

December 1, 2021

Volume

75

Related Subject Headings

  • 4406 Human geography
  • 3304 Urban and regional planning
  • 3302 Building
  • 1205 Urban and Regional Planning
  • 0502 Environmental Science and Management