High-Density Housing Development and Water Infrastructure Provision: Empirical Evidence From Korea

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between housing development density and the level of water supply and sewerage in Korea in an attempt to draw implications for housing and water infrastructure development in developing countries. It first examines theoretically the relationship between housing development density and economic efficiency for providing water infrastructure. This relationship is then empirically tested using multiple regression models based on the cross-sectional data across local jurisdictions in Korea. The water supply and sewerage levels are two dependent variables and measured by the percentage of the population connected to the water supply and sewage treatment systems in each jurisdiction. Housing development density, measured by the proportion of apartments out of housing stock, serves as the key independent variable along with other control variables such as the environmental, financial, and urban characteristics of each jurisdiction. The regression results reveal that housing development density plays a dominant role in enhancing both water supply and sewerage levels, implying that densification strategies in urban and residential development may be useful in overcoming a shortage of housing and water infrastructure in developing countries.