Author(s): Balata, Edson Elídio ; Pinto, Hugo ; Silva, Manuela
Date: 2022
Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.1/20024
Origin: Sapientia - Universidade do Algarve
Subject(s): Water reuse; Circular economy; Water management; Urban water cycle; Socio-economic; Sustainable development; Country clusters; Factor analysis
Water use and socio-economic development are interconnected in complex ways. Causalities are not easy to identify but it is evident that a nexus between water use and socio-economic development does exist. Considering the diversity of national situations relating to these interrelated phenomena, its study should be considered from a global perspective. This article critically reviews the literature and information from official sources on the relevance of water use and circular economy in order to create a global picture, linking water with socio-economic development. Data from 195 countries was analyzed statistically. A factor analysis defined five essential latent dimensions on the nexus between water use and socio-economic development: development and basic services, population and resource, economic volume, health and well-being, and population density. Based on the identified factors, countries were classified into six groups: Global South in difficulty, global semi-periphery, advanced economy, Middle East and other Global South developing economy, global weight, and small highly developed economy. The clustering results clarify connections between water use conditions and socio-economic development. Understanding the variety of national profiles is helpful to reveal the magnitude and urgency of dealing with the nexus between water use and socio-economic development for many countries.
