Circular cities: exploring local government strategies to facilitate a circular economy

ABSTRACT

Cities are growing rapidly, and the systems of production and consumption that support this growth are contributing to the depletion of natural resources and pollution of the environment. The circular economy model offers an alternative to the predominant take-make-dispose economic system. Local municipalities are seen to have the capacity to encourage sustainable development of the built environment. This paper aims to explore the role of strategic planning in facilitating a circular economy in urban settings. In particular, this research asks: How are local governments facilitating circular economy initiatives through strategic planning? What are the opportunities and barriers when applying circular economy principles through local strategic planning? The research approach used for this paper is a comparative case study of two international municipalities: the City of Melbourne, Australia and the City of Malmö, Sweden. Current strategic planning practice was examined with a focus on circular economy themes. The findings reveal that strategic urban planning can translate circular economy objectives into actions within specific urban areas, although barriers still exist to fully integrating the circular economy model.

KEYWORDS:

• Strategic planning
• circular economy
• local government
• Malmö
• Melbourne

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Andréanne Doyon http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1165-8751

Notes

1 Fishermans Bend is a large urban renewal project covering approximately 480 hectares across two municipalities – the City of Melbourne and the City of Port Phillip – and it is expected that by 2050, it will be home to approximately 80,000 residents and provide employment for up to 80,000 people (State Government of Victoria, 2019).