Opportunities for the Circular Economy in Smart Cities: The Role of Digital Technology

Our current global economy is based on the linear flow of material and energy at a speed faster than earth can regenerate its services. A logical answer is reversing this into a circular economy, implemented through Circular Business Models (CBM). While cities count for the majority of current and future inhabitants, consumption and negative externalities people presume the CE should play an important role in coping with its challenges. To maintain urban livability, there is another emerging city strategy. That is to integrate technology in the urban domain and make a city “smart.” This development questions how digitization can also leverage CBM in the smart city area. However, little research is known on this topic. This article therefore studies the relationship between the circular economy and a circular smart city by exploring digital technology as a common variable. The authors first conceptualize the possibilities to enhance CBM by digital technology and then apply concept mapping to determine if and which CBM have greatest possibility to flourish in a circular smart city context.