Figure 1.20 A Broad View of the City Center of Houston

Figure 1.20 A Broad View of the City Center of Houston

Source: Houston-Galveston Area Council, Google Earth. Note: The expanded view shows a parcel of land that is theoretically within walking distance of the city center.

pumping stations, and so on. The additional capital costs for remote connections are typically shared by all users and translate into cost premiums. If higher-density, transit-oriented developments are instead located downstream from water reservoirs and close to existing mains, the capital costs of development will be much lower, and the city can avoid the otherwise signifi cant costs—often 30 percent or more of total energy bills—associated with pumping water and wastewater to and from new households and businesses.

Because resource effi ciency and emissions are infl uenced directly and permanently by urban form and density, intelligent spatial planning is the fi rst proactive step toward DSM in infrastructure (fi gure 1.22). The mixing of land uses at the neighborhood level can reduce system costs by evening out the demand for services and reducing the peak loads that directly