At the heart of creativity, innovation, and growth, cities play a central role as motors of the global economy. In the coming decades, cities will be increasingly important as even greater rates of urbanization are expected, and significant infrastructure investments and developments will be made.
Cities could be uniquely positioned to drive a global transition towards a circular economy, with their high concentration of resources, capital, data, and talent over a small geographic territory, and could greatly benefit from the outcomes of such a transition.
Building a circular city economy can bring tremendous economic, social, and environmental benefits.
If we can reduce congestion, eliminate waste, and bring down costs, higher economic productivity and new growth will allow cities to thrive.
Lower carbon emissions and pollution will improve air quality and urban health, and enhanced social interactions will make city spaces attractive and liveable.
Why Circular, Now
Cities have a high concentration of resources, capital, data, and talent spread over relatively small geographic area and are centers for innovation.
Because of this concentration, cities are uniquely positioned to support specific circular business models, such as sharing models, reuse systems, or product-as-a-service models.
Developments in circular manufacturing, fashion, transport, food, and procurement are already being led by urban areas.
Now is the time to take full advantage of the wealth of city opportunities to create a system that can work long-term for the economy, society, and the environment.
The Vision
A circular city embeds the principles of a circular economy across all its functions, establishing an urban system that is regenerative, accessible and abundant by design.
We aim to eliminate the concept of waste, keep assets at their highest value at all times, and creating a blockchain-enabled future.
A circular city should seek to generate prosperity, increase liveability, and improve resilience for the city and its citizens, while aiming to decouple the creation of value from the consumption of finite resources.
Key Components
- A built environment that is designed in a modular and flexible manner, sourcing healthy materials that improve the life quality of the residents, and minimise virgin material use.
- Production systems that encourage the creation of local value loops. This means more local production, and increased and more diverse exchanges of value in local economies.
- An urban mobility system that is accessible, affordable, and effective. A multi-modal mobility structure that will incorporate public transportation with on-demand cars as a flexible last-mile solution.
- An urban bioeconomy where nutrients will be returned to the soil in an appropriate manner, while generating value and minimising food waste.
- Energy systems that are resilient, renewable, localised, distributed and
allow effective energy use, reducing costs and having a positive impact on the environment.
