The nexus of urban energy-water-mobility futures: Key transitions and their potential impacts

This paper explores available city-regional data across infrastructure sectors and the related perspectives of key actors managing or helping to shape larger innovations in and management of transportation, energy, and water infrastructure systems and services in rapidly urbanizing arid regions of the United States. Indicators are developed, critical "nexus" questions to be addressed by urban-regional infrastructure managers are identified, and emerging urban transitions and their potential risks and benefits are explored across energy, water, and mobility futures for 10 growing cities. While datasets are emerging for increasing the efficiency of each system towards overall urban sustainability, more integrated data and indicators are still being conceptualized. A through data review of selected cities and surveys of experts to identify cross-sector decision making for business decisions leading to critical resource efficiencies across the food-energy-water system with regards to long term infrastructure investments at local and transboundary levels. Of importance is how energy and water utilities, and mobility service providers understand interdependencies between their own sectors and neighboring sectors for optimizing cross sectoral interactions for increased efficiency and resiliency.