Work

Exploring urban resilience through the food–water–energy nexus during the COVID-19 pandemic: Insights from the Great Pause in Tokyo

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: The COVID-19 lockdown measures across countries led to drastic fluctuations in resource utilization, which plunged cities into a state of “The Great Pause” and exposing the fragility of urban systems. The evolving nature of the pandemic complicated the long-term management of urban food, energy and water (FEW) services, emphasizing the intensive interconnections among these resources. Although many studies have examined sectoral disruptions in isolation, the interconnections between FEW resources across sectors remain underexplored. Using Tokyo as a case study, this study investigates the resilience of an urban basic supply system during COVID-19. The impact of the pandemic on FEW consumption patterns is evaluated by controlling for factors such as seasonality, trends, and prices. A time-varying parameter vector autoregression model was applied to analyze disturbances and recovery of FEW consumption, revealing disruptions and interactions across FEW sectors. Our findings reveal a sharp decline in commercial energy use during the Great Pause, with reductions of up to 18 % per month compared to the baseline. In contrast, household energy use increased drastically, surging by as much as 15 %, primarily due to increased heating demands and high in-home food expenditures. These shifts revealed altered urban resource use patterns and highlighted challenges in adapting resource subsystems. In addition, the sensitivity of energy consumption to community mobility revealed variations in energy use efficiency across sectors. This study demonstrates the potential of using the Great Pause as a critical benchmark for assessing essential resource demands during major disruptions.

Source: Journal of Cleaner Production

DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2025.146410

Authors: Hanyu Liu, Wanglin Yan

Institutions: Keio University, Keio University Shonan Fujisawa

Language: English

Topic: Water-Energy-Food Nexus Studies

Subfield: Water Science and Technology

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Sustainable cities and communities, Industry, innovation and infrastructure, Climate action

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $4,660