The effect of urbanism on energy consumption in selected countries

Today, energy and its applications have a special place in human’s life. Energy is the prerequisite of social and economic growth and meets the need for drinking water, food and shelter. In recent decades the energy demand has risen as an important strategic input for production and services and as a significant commodity for users in itself. So, the main objective of the present paper is investigation of the theoretical relationship and the effectiveness of urbanism on energy consumption in selected oil-exporting countries.

This is an applied, comparative and causative research in terms of methodology and an inferential one in terms of writing method.

The results from fixed effects methodology and Generalized Method of Moments in selected countries during 2000-2012 show that urbanism has a positive and significant effect on energy consumption in selected countries.

The main reasons behind higher energy consumption in urbanism have been consumption pattern changes, higher commodity and services demand, and therefore, higher production and transportation, needing more energy.