The circular economy and regenerative design approaches, although still emerging in the built environment, are important pathways to move away from the degenerative business-as-usual practices in the sector. In this paper, we investigate the perception, awareness, and practices of built environment professionals regarding the adoption of a combined regenerative circularity approach for buildings and cities, and if current practices and ‘neighbourhood sustainability assessment’ (NSA) tools should be improved and how. The inquiry was conducted using a convergent mixed methods approach with professionals from around the globe through: (a) online questionnaires which collected 146 responses, and (b) 18 semi-structured interviews which delved further into relevant aspects of the survey. Quantitative and qualitative responses were coded, grouped, and analysed. Results indicate an average awareness of topics with large space for improvement of practices. The main pathways for improvement for NSA tools include performance requirements, aspects of flexibility and adaptability, and engagement and communication, to which are added opportunities and enablers to improve the sector. The authors hope that this study will contribute towards the improvement and design of better tools and practices to support the implementation of regenerative circularity in the built environment sector.
There is potential in applying the circular economy (CE) and regenerative design (RD) models for the redevelopment of urban areas as a response to the current linear and mechanistic practices that still contribute to exceeding planetary boundaries and reinforcing social inequalities. Despite these models' common roots, they are usually approached quite differently. A merged approach may be able to solve existing gaps and critiques. This paper reviews relevant CE and RD definitions linked to the urban context. An inductive content analysis to map and discuss existing themes is conducted, leading to a set of five underpinning pillars. The resulting 'Regenerative Circularity for the Built Environment' conceptual model adopts a systemic and positive impact approach that is the steppingstone for the development of a practical tool aiming to support urban stakeholders in the transition of existing neighbourhoods with strategies more suitable to their aims and notion of place. K E Y W O R D S circular cities, circular economy, circularity, conceptual model, regenerative design and development, sustainable urban planning 1 | INTRODUCTION Societal development is a result of its core principles, and the current linear model, obsessed with economic and technological growth, has led the planet into many of its social and environmental problems, to the point of entering the so-called Anthropocene (Crutzen & Stoermer, 2000), or Capitalocene (Moore, 2017): A mindset in which humans are seen as the measure of everything (Lyle, 1994). Globalresource use is responsible for about 50% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and over 90% of impacts on water stress and biodiversity loss-this is, in part, a result of urbanisation, due to its intensive resource demand for infrastructure and buildings (IRP, 2019).Current urban development practices also negatively influence the aspects of equity, health and climate resilience (Barton, 2017). These impacts look to rise as the global urban population is expected to increase from 4.22 billion in 2018, to 6.68 billion in 2050 (UN-DESA, 2019), driving the expansion of cities and the demand for resources. At the same time, an existing building stock inefficient in energy consumption, use of raw materials, and capacity for adaptive reuse is calling for attention. In the United Kingdom, 87% of current stock, mostly inefficient, will still exist in 2050 (Kelly, 2009). In Australia, 50% of the buildings existing in 2050 will probably be built after 2019 (ASBEC & ClimateWorks Australia, 2018). And in Europe, most existing buildings date from 1940 to 1980 (Berggren & Wall, 2019). Different profiles will require different strategies.The comprehension that development needs to be a multidimensional concept that considers the environment as a central component was formally consolidated in the second half of the 20th century. This may be represented by important milestones as the need to move towards a sustainable world proposed by the Club of Rome
<p>Learning from nature may be the most important step towards improving cities in the context of environmental and climate issues. However, many of the current approaches to make cities greener or more sustainable are still linear and insufficient to deal with these growing challenges. In this scenario, the adoption of regenerative and circular lenses for the built environment may foster a more holistic development based on what is good rather than what is less bad. In this article, we propose that bioconnectivity or bioconnections—a nature-focused approach based on biophilic design, biomimetics, and ecosystem services—may be an important enabler for the regeneration of the ecological and social boundaries of the planetary boundaries and doughnut economics models. We examine the literature to identify in what ways bioconnections could facilitate circular and regenerative processes for the local scale of the built environment domain. We complement the discussion with some real-world examples from selected urban communities or interventions in existing urban areas around the globe that claim a green approach. In the end, we propose a framework of relevant bioconnections for the built environment that could facilitate addressing ecological and social boundaries at the local urban scale and facilitate processes of regenerative transitions towards thriving communities.</p>
Despite the increasing use of neighbourhood sustainability assessment tools (NSAT), their linear approach may be insufficient to tackle the global and local social and ecological challenges. The circular economy (CE) has recently emerged as a new pathway, adopted by corporations and public organisations. Understanding how to apply CE to existing communities, while addressing some of its shortcomings, particularly the strong focus on resource management, is the main goal of this paper. Building upon a Regenerative Circularity for the Built Environment (RC4BE) conceptual model that merges circular economy and regenerative design concepts, a framework with criteria for its implementation in the transition of existing urban areas is proposed. A preliminary framework structure with criteria mapped from literature is proposed and validated through a 2-round Delphi consultation with 31 international experts. The final framework, with 136 criteria, addresses some of the identified gaps and different urban cycles related to physical resources, ecosystems, liveability, infrastructure, governance, participation, local economy, and other socioeconomic aspects of urban communities. This expanded take on CE should be useful for built environment professionals and other urban stakeholders interested in regenerating their communities and precincts by going beyond current green approaches and existing tools to effectively generate positive impact for people and the planet.
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