The Cost of Urban Sprawl and its Potential Redistributive Effects: An Empirical Cost Assessment for Water Services in Lausanne (Switzerland)

Abstract

To what extent do costs of investment, exploitation, and maintenance of water networks vary in relation to density and dispersion? What are the redistributive effects of these cost structures and by what categories of consumer are they borne? Using as a case study the distribution of water in the Lausanne agglomeration, in Switzerland, we develop a methodology to assess the real costs of urban sprawl on water services. We will show that, while the costs of centrality for the equipment and maintenance of the network are high in absolute value, for neighbourhoods situated in the city centre, they are largely compensated for by the economies of scale related to density and the supply of a greater number of users. Moreover, the evaluation based on real costs underlines the impact of the neighbourhood location and the weight of dispersion: the proximity of already urbanised areas, the distance to water production plants, the elevation. Lastly, with the case of the Lausanne area we will show that the cost of urban sprawl could be directly paid by users thanks to high connection charges and could strongly attenuate redistributive effects.