The circular economy in urban projects

Bruno Peuportier,Myriam Saadé,Charlotte Roux,Federica Appendino

doi:10.24306/traesop.2021.01.006

Abstract

Over the last decade, the concept of the circular economy (CE) has gained momentum among practitioners, politicians, and scholars because of its promise of achieving sustainability goals. However, there is still a need to demonstrate and assess the positive environmental impacts of the CE. With respect to the building sector, the CE is still a relatively new topic. To date, research has tended to focus primarily on the macro-scale (cities or eco-parks) and the micro-scale (manufactured products or construction materials). Nevertheless, the often-neglected built environment is also expected to play a crucial role in the transition towards a CE due to its high contribution to various environmental burdens. This paper contributes to this growing area of research by reviewing four cases of ‘circular neighbourhood’ projects in Europe. First, a conceptual framework analysis is defined and applied to the cases. Second, CE initiatives and actions are identified and classified using interviews and document analysis. Third, the use of assessment tools within these CE projects is investigated. The results demonstrate a diverse representation of the CE paradigm and the growing role played by the assessment tools.

Highlights

Over the last 10 years, the concept of the circular economy (CE) has gained momentum in politics, business, and academia (Kampelmann, 2016; Reike, et al, 2017) as a means by which to overcome the contradictions that exist between economic and environmental prosperity (Geissdoerfer et al, 2017)
The literature review shows that the CE provides a useful perspective for rethinking sustainable urban development
The CE remains a new topic for urban planning and research is lacking with respect to the application of CE principles to the built environment

Summary

Introduction

Over the last 10 years, the concept of the circular economy (CE) has gained momentum in politics, business, and academia (Kampelmann, 2016; Reike, et al, 2017) as a means by which to overcome the contradictions that exist between economic and environmental prosperity (Geissdoerfer et al, 2017). The CE forms an “economic system of trade and production which, at all stages of the product lifecycle, aims to increase the efficiency of resource use and reduce the impact on the environment, while developing the well-being of individuals” (ADEME, 2014, p.4). For these reasons, the CE already represents a core theme of major European plans and regulations (Petit-Boix and Leipold, 2018), such as the ‘Circular Economy Package’ adopted in 2015. CE constitutes an evolving notion (Merli et al, 2018), which is rather ambiguous and vague (Korhonen et al, 2017), and whose potential ‘still needs to be unlocked’ (OECD, 2020)

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