Author(s)

NAIF ALBELWI, ALAN KWAN & YACINE REZGUI

Abstract

The consumption of material, energy, and water resources is inextricably linked to population growth with a unique impact on urban areas, especially in light of significant investments in infrastructure to support urban development. Urban metabolism is becoming popular as it provides a framework accounting the mass and energy flows through a city. An urban metabolism study was conducted to estimate the inputs and outputs of energy and pollutants from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The objective of this study was to determine the energy consumption of Riyadh using locally generated data from 1986, 1996, 2006, and 2012 and analysing the temporal trends of energy consumption and associated environmental impact. The socioeconomic and biophysical characteristics of Riyadh are well represented in its metabolism indicators. The high growth rate in population along with urban expansion has resulted in an increase in energy consumption. Riyadh has seen an increase in energy consumption at a rate of about 6% per annum. On a per capita basis, preliminary results show that the energy consumption increased by 31% from 1996 to 2012. Also, per capita CO₂ emissions have increased by the same per- centage. Results also show increasing  mobile energy consumption from 20k TJ in 1986 to 157k TJ in 2012, which points to Riyadh’s inefficient urban form. The study findings highlight the importance for developing effective policies for improving the use of resources

Keywords

resource consumption, sustainability, urban development, urban metabolism