Resource Consumption of New Urban Construction in China

Abstract

The volume of China's recent additions to its urban‐built environment is unprecedented. China now accounts for half of all new building area in the world. Increases in building stocks of all types have occurred during an extended period of accelerated growth of the national economy. This expansion promises to continue through 2030. As a result, the rapid conversion of land from low‐density agricultural and light manufacturing to new urban zones of high density and material‐intensive commercial and residential buildings has consumed enormous quantities of domestic and imported resources and has irreversibly altered the Chinese landscape. This article examines the consumption of material resources dedicated to Chinese building construction through a survey and analysis of the material intensity of three major building types. This provides a basis for outlining the emerging life‐cycle issues of recent additions to the built environment and of continued construction. With this as the starting point, the field of industrial ecology can work toward formulating strategies for a circular economy that include a resource‐efficient urban China.

Analysis on major drivers of cement consumption during the urbanization process in China

“…To sustain the increasingly tremendous urban system, large amount of fixed investment has been poured into not only the residential blocks construction, but also the ancillary non-residential facilities, e.g., commercial buildings, industrial buildings and infrastructure construction. Infrastructure construction includes transportation, power generation and distribution networks (including dams for hydroelectric energy production and water collection) (Fernandez, 2007). The urbanization growth in recent decades is to a great extent benefited from huge infrastructure construction.…”

“…Whereas, every 0.01 unit increase of urbanization will merely result in a 0.0445% growth of cement consumption. This outcome implies that the volume of construction dedicated to infrastructure projects exceeds that of buildings for resident (Fernandez, 2007). The urbanization level utilized in this research refers to the number of permanent inhabitants in the urban area.…”

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“…China's demand for sand is likely to increase as the construction industry expands (Fernandez 2007). The current Chinese per capita sand consumption (based on an estimated sand production of 2.6 billion m 3 year -1 , Cheng 2006) of ca.…”

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“…Construction material consumption exceeds half of the world production in the 21st century and this trend is likely to continue until 2030 [43]. A significant portion of the construction materials has been used in urban development and transportation.…”