ESSAYS ON MEASURING URBANIZATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE SERVICE LEVELS

Goals, targets, and service level benchmarks play important roles in planning and policy for urban infrastructure. This dissertation includes three studies that examine how such targets are sensitive to underlying conceptual and data problems, and themselves can lead to unanticipated outcomes depending on the institutional context. In my first study, I implement a method to disaggregate geographically coarse population estimates from the Census of India into a fine population gridded dataset and apply a community detection algorithm and several population density thresholds to identify urbanized areas in India. I find that the Census of India likely undercounted its urban population and the growth rate of that population between 2000 and 2010. My second study examines an experiment by the water utility serving Amravati, a city in Maharashtra, India, to upgrade its service levels from intermittent water supply to continuous water supply in part of its service area. I find that this upgrade resulted in increased water demand for certain subgroups. In my third study, I investigate the spatial distribution of publicly owned, investor-owned, cooperative, and privately owned water systems in California, and the association between ownership type and water rate affordability. I find that publicly owned, and to a lesser extent, investor-owned utilities dominate mid-sized and large cities, but that other systems are prominent in rural and peripheral areas. I find that investor-owned systems do tend to charge higher, more unaffordable water rates, although they cut off fewer of their customers for nonpayment than their publicly owned counterparts when controlling for the affordability of their rates.Doctor of Philosoph

UNC-Chapel Hill DCRP Best Master’s Project of 2014: Intermittent vs. Continuous Water Supply: What Benefits do Households Actually Receive? Evidence from Two Cities in India

Every year, faculty from the Department of City and Regional Planning at UNC-Chapel Hill determine the best master’s paper developed out of the graduating class. This document is an extended abstract of the project

Intermittent vs. Continuous Water Supply: What Benefits do Households Actually Receive? Evidence from Two Cities in India

Almost all urban water systems in South Asia provide intermittent water supply. Intermittent supply can impair water quality and cause users waste water and to adopt costly coping mechanisms such as storage, treatment, pumping, and collection of water from alternate sources. This study implemented a mixed-methods approach that used a billing panel dataset as well as household interviews in two Indian cities undergoing continuous water supply interventions. Continuous water supply did not generally lead to more efficient water consumption among higher income groups, although the poorest households did increase their consumption from very low levels. Moreover, consumers generally continued to incur coping costs under the improved service. There was some evidence for wasteful water use under continuous water supply without volumetric tariffs, especially in slum households. Evaluation of continuous water supply interventions should consider the probability and timing with which household coping behaviors might change. Where continuous water supply is implemented, water demand management strategies should be developed that reconcile conservation goals with affordability goals for the poorest.Master of Science in Public Healt

Intermittent vs. Continuous Water Supply: What benefits do households actually receive? Evidence from two cities in India

Almost all urban water systems in South Asia provide intermittent water supply. Intermittent supply can impair water quality and cause users to adopt costly coping mechanisms. In 2009, Nagpur and Amravati, two cities in Maharashtra, India, began offering continuous water supply to pilot areas, hoping to improve water access, water quality and reduce household storage, treatment, and collection of water from alternate sources. Using a mixed-methods approach that used a billing panel dataset from Amravati and as well as utility staff and household interviews in both cities, continuous water supply was found to increase water demand compared to intermittent supply, especially among slum households, although storage and treatment practices fort he most part remained unchanged while other water collection activities were not eliminated. The results indicate that many of the purported benefits of continuous water supply do not accrue automatically to the consumer.Master of City and Regional Plannin

Global assessment of exposure to faecal contamination through drinking water based on a systematic review

Objectives: To estimate exposure to faecal contamination through drinking water as indicated by levels of Escherichia coli (E. coli) or thermotolerant coliform (TTC) in water sources. Methods: We estimated coverage of different types of drinking water source based on household surveys and censuses using multilevel modelling. Coverage data were combined with water quality studies that assessed E. coli or TTC including those identified by a systematic review (n = 345). Predictive models for the presence and level of contamination of drinking water sources were developed using random effects logistic regression and selected covariates. We assessed sensitivity of estimated exposure to study quality, indicator bacteria and separately considered nationally randomised surveys. Results: We estimate that 1.8 billion people globally use a source of drinking water which suffers from faecal contamination, of these 1.1 billion drink water that is of at least 'moderate' risk (>10 E. coli or TTC per 100 ml). Data from nationally randomised studies suggest that 10% of improved sources may be 'high' risk, containing at least 100 E. coli or TTC per 100 ml. Drinking water is found to be more often contaminated in rural areas (41%, CI: 31%-51%) than in urban areas (12%, CI: 8-18%), and contamination is most prevalent in Africa (53%, CI: 42%-63%) and South-East Asia (35%, CI: 24%-45%). Estimates were not sensitive to the exclusion of low quality studies or restriction to studies reporting E. coli. Conclusions: Microbial contamination is widespread and affects all water source types, including piped supplies. Global burden of disease estimates may have substantially understated the disease burden associated with inadequate water services

Country clustering applied to the water and sanitation sector: A new tool with potential applications in research and policy

The fields of global health and international development commonly cluster countries by geography and income to target resources and describe progress. For any given sector of interest, a range of relevant indicators can serve as a more appropriate basis for classification. We create a new typology of country clusters specific to the water and sanitation (WatSan) sector based on similarities across multiple WatSan-related indicators. After a literature review and consultation with experts in the WatSan sector, nine indicators were selected. Indicator selection was based on relevance to and suggested influence on national water and sanitation service delivery, and to maximize data availability across as many countries as possible. A hierarchical clustering method and a gap statistic analysis were used to group countries into a natural number of relevant clusters. Two stages of clustering resulted in five clusters, representing 156 countries or 6.75 billion people. The five clusters were not well explained by income or geography, and were unique from existing country clusters used in international development. Analysis of these five clusters revealed that they were more compact and well separated than United Nations and World Bank country clusters. This analysis and resulting country typology suggest that previous geography- or income-based country groupings can be improved upon for applications in the WatSan sector by utilizing globally available WatSan-related indicators. Potential applications include guiding and discussing research, informing policy, improving resource targeting, describing sector progress, and identifying critical knowledge gaps in the WatSan sector

Global Access to Safe Water: Accounting for Water Quality and the Resulting Impact on MDG Progress

Monitoring of progress towards the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) drinking water target relies on classification of water sources as “improved” or “unimproved” as an indicator for water safety. We adjust the current Joint Monitoring Programme (JMP) estimate by accounting for microbial water quality and sanitary risk using the only-nationally representative water quality data currently available, that from the WHO and UNICEF “Rapid Assessment of Drinking Water Quality”. A principal components analysis (PCA) of national environmental and development indicators was used to create models that predicted, for most countries, the proportions of piped and of other-improved water supplies that are faecally contaminated; and of these sources, the proportions that lack basic sanitary protection against contamination. We estimate that 1.8 billion people (28% of the global population) used unsafe water in 2010. The 2010 JMP estimate is that 783 million people (11%) use unimproved sources. Our estimates revise the 1990 baseline from 23% to 37%, and the target from 12% to 18%, resulting in a shortfall of 10% of the global population towards the MDG target in 2010. In contrast, using the indicator “use of an improved source” suggests that the MDG target for drinking-water has already been achieved. We estimate that an additional 1.2 billion (18%) use water from sources or systems with significant sanitary risks. While our estimate is imprecise, the magnitude of the estimate and the health and development implications suggest that greater attention is needed to better understand and manage drinking water safety

Water-Use Data in the United States: Challenges and Future Directions

In the United States, greater attention has been given to developing water supplies and quantifying available waters than determining who uses water, how much they withdraw and consume, and how and where water use occurs. As water supplies are stressed due to an increasingly variable climate, changing land-use, and growing water needs, greater consideration of the demand side of the water balance equation is essential. Data about the spatial and temporal aspects of water use for different purposes are now critical to long-term water supply planning and resource management. We detail the current state of water-use data, the major stakeholders involved in their collection and applications, and the challenges in obtaining high-quality nationally consistent data applicable to a range of scales and purposes. Opportunities to improve access, use, and sharing of water-use data are outlined. We cast a vision for a world-class national water-use data product that is accessible, timely, and spatially detailed. Our vision will leverage the strengths of existing local, state, and federal agencies to facilitate rapid and informed decision-making, modeling, and science for water resources. To inform future decision-making regarding water supplies and uses, we must coordinate efforts to substantially improve our capacity to collect, model, and disseminate water-use data

Does removal of federal subsidies discourage urban development? An evaluation of the US Coastal Barrier Resources Act.

Urban development relies on many factors to remain viable, including infrastructure, services, and government provisions and subsidies. However, in situations involving federal or state level policy, development responds not just to one regulatory signal, but also to multiple signals from overlapping and competing jurisdictions. The 1982 U.S. Coastal Barrier Resources Act (CoBRA) offers an opportunity to study when and how development restrictions and economic disincentives protect natural resources by stopping or slowing urban development in management regimes with distributed authority and responsibility. CoBRA prohibits federal financial assistance for infrastructure, post-storm disaster relief, and flood insurance in designated sections (CoBRA units) of coastal barriers. How has CoBRA's removal of these subsidies affected rates and types of urban development? Using building footprint and real estate data (n = 1,385,552 parcels), we compare density of built structures, land use types, residential house size, and land values within and outside of CoBRA units in eight Southeast and Gulf Coast states. We show that CoBRA is associated with reduced development rates in designated coastal barriers. We also demonstrate how local responses may counteract withdrawal of federal subsidies. As attention increases towards improving urban resilience in high hazard areas, this work contributes to understanding how limitations on infrastructure and insurance subsidies can affect outcomes where overlapping jurisdictions have competing goals

Country clustering applied to the water and sanitation sector: A new tool with potential applications in research and policy

The fields of global health and international development commonly cluster countries by geography and income to target resources and describe progress. For any given sector of interest, a range of relevant indicators can serve as a more appropriate basis for classification. We create a new typology of country clusters specific to the water and sanitation (WatSan) sector based on similarities across multiple WatSan-related indicators. After a literature review and consultation with experts in the WatSan sector, nine indicators were selected. Indicator selection was based on relevance to and suggested influence on national water and sanitation service delivery, and to maximize data availability across as many countries as possible. A hierarchical clustering method and a gap statistic analysis were used to group countries into a natural number of relevant clusters. Two stages of clustering resulted in five clusters, representing 156 countries or 6.75 billion people. The five clusters were not well explained by income or geography, and were unique from existing country clusters used in international development. Analysis of these five clusters revealed that they were more compact and well separated than United Nations and World Bank country clusters. This analysis and resulting country typology suggest that previous geography- or income-based country groupings can be improved upon for applications in the WatSan sector by utilizing globally available WatSan-related indicators. Potential applications include guiding and discussing research, informing policy, improving resource targeting, describing sector progress, and identifying critical knowledge gaps in the WatSan sector