TY - JOUR
T1 - Towards circular cities—Conceptualizing core aspects
AU - Paiho, Satu
AU - Mäki, Elina
AU - Wessberg, Nina
AU - Paavola, Martta
AU - Tuominen, Pekka
AU - Antikainen, Maria
AU - Heikkilä, Jouko
AU - Rozado, Carmen Antuña
AU - Jung, Nusrat
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was funded by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd.
PY - 2020/8
Y1 - 2020/8
N2 - Already in agricultural societies issues like the efficient use of natural resources, recycling of goods and materials, and minimization of food waste were key principles. Current circular economy initiatives are building firmly on these same principles. Often circular economy actions concentrate on material efficiency ignoring other possible flows. This paper conceptualizes circular cities by reviewing their constraints, characteristics and connections. Even a proper definition for a “circular city” is missing. After analyzing circular economy (CE) challenges and opportunities in cities, the paper concentrates on characteristics of circular city concepts, namely definition, transition process, target setting and circularity indicators. These are the core issues a city has to define when targeting circularity. In addition, the paper addresses city streams, their interlinkages and boundaries which a city has to analyze when deciding about the concrete actions and means. Adequate tools are needed in this phase to analyze circular cities. Potential Nexus and expert tools were identified in the paper. The paper ends up with a synthesis of steps cities need to take when targeting circularity.
AB - Already in agricultural societies issues like the efficient use of natural resources, recycling of goods and materials, and minimization of food waste were key principles. Current circular economy initiatives are building firmly on these same principles. Often circular economy actions concentrate on material efficiency ignoring other possible flows. This paper conceptualizes circular cities by reviewing their constraints, characteristics and connections. Even a proper definition for a “circular city” is missing. After analyzing circular economy (CE) challenges and opportunities in cities, the paper concentrates on characteristics of circular city concepts, namely definition, transition process, target setting and circularity indicators. These are the core issues a city has to define when targeting circularity. In addition, the paper addresses city streams, their interlinkages and boundaries which a city has to analyze when deciding about the concrete actions and means. Adequate tools are needed in this phase to analyze circular cities. Potential Nexus and expert tools were identified in the paper. The paper ends up with a synthesis of steps cities need to take when targeting circularity.
KW - Circular business models
KW - Circular economy
KW - Cities
KW - Concepts
KW - Energy and material streams
KW - Indicators
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85083299150&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.scs.2020.102143
DO - 10.1016/j.scs.2020.102143
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85083299150
SN - 2210-6707
VL - 59
JO - Sustainable Cities and Society
JF - Sustainable Cities and Society
M1 - 102143
ER -