Methodology for estimating implied energy consumption in the urban growth of diffuse cities

The urbanization trend in Latin American cities is currently one of the highest in the world. It determines that the increase in urban area is greater than the rate of population growth. In turn, cities use 75% of the energy consumed on the planet. For this reason, they are responsible in equal proportion for the production of greenhouse gases. In response, urban planning should incorporate design strategies to reduce said consumption. As an alternative to this trend, the objective of this investigation is to assess the impact of the different models of urban growth for the same city. To this end, variables related to land use and energy consumption associated with the building and infrastructure requirements necessary to accommodate the growth of the city per year were quantified. The results obtained were compared with the reference values of sustainability indicators developed in Europe to verify their potential implementation in Latin American cities. As a validation exercise, different urban growth models were evaluated in the Mendoza Metropolitan Area, Argentina.