Demography and Infrastructure: National and Regional Aspects of Demographic Change (Environment & Policy Book 51)

Population ageing has been going on for many decades, but population shrinking is a rather new phenomenon. The population of Germany, as in many other countries, has passed a plateau and is currently shrinking. Demographic change is a challenge for infrastructure planning due to the longevity of infrastructure capital and the need to match supply and demand in order to ensure cost-efficiency. This book summarises the findings of the INFRADEM project team, a multidisciplinary research group that worked together to estimate the effects of demographic change on infrastructure demand. Economists, engineers and geographers present studies from top-down and bottom-up perspectives, focusing on Germany and two selected regions: Hamburg and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The contributors employed a broad range of methods, including an overlapping-generations model for Germany, regional input-output models, an energy systems model, and a spatial model of the transportation infrastructure of the selected regions. Front Matter....Pages i-xxii Introduction to Infrastructure and Demography (InfraDem)....Pages 1-8 Front Matter....Pages 9-9 The Setting: Demographic Trends and Economic Development in Germany and Two Selected Regions....Pages 11-43 Macroeconomic Conditions for Infrastructure Adaptation to Demographic Change....Pages 45-66 Demographically Induced Changes in the Structure of Final Demand and Infrastructure Use....Pages 67-91 Front Matter....Pages 93-93 Demographic Effects on Passenger Transport Demand....Pages 95-110 The Demand for Air Transport and Consequences for the Airports of Hamburg and Rostock....Pages 111-129 Impacts on the National Energy System....Pages 131-146 The Potential for District Heating Based on Renewable Energy: A Spatial Analysis....Pages 147-164 Front Matter....Pages 165-165 Mobility of the Elderly – Facts and Projections....Pages 167-188 On the Energy Demand of Households....Pages 189-210 Front Matter....Pages 211-211 Evaluation of Findings on Sustainability Strategies....Pages 213-224 Policy Implications: The Regional Perspective and Beyond....Pages 225-243 Back Matter....Pages 245-248