Circular economy strategies in cities as a value-driven approach to infrastructure management

Abstract

The circular economy (CE) is a promising paradigm for reducing the environmental impact and preserving value within modern production systems, including civil infrastructure. However, there is a mismatch between common assumptions in CE thinking, largely developed for smaller-scale consumer products, and infrastructure systems characterized by their permanency and complexity. This paper discusses the applicability of CE for infrastructure provisioning and operation while examining how CE is being used in urban infrastructure policies. Our analysis of six large American and European cities reveals that current CE policy for construction focuses on closing material loops, even in cases where it may have limited effectiveness. Notably, London and Amsterdam lead efforts to narrow resource loops through life extension strategies. Yet, for urban infrastructure value to be meaningfully preserved, more attention should be given to the specific contexts of growth and existing infrastructure stock, and higher-order circularity strategies such as retrofitting and use intensification.