Placing cities in the circular economy: neoliberal urbanism or spaces of socio-ecological transition?

Bassens, David; Kȩbłowski, Wojciech; Lambert, Deborah

doi:10.1080/02723638.2020.1788312

Cited by 25 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…In this respect, greater investment in digital technologies might present opportunities for FE services to reach more parts of the region and connect with citizens locally and regionally. This may help it to respond to the growing provision of services digitally, further enhanced during the coronavirus pandemic where greater attention needs to be granted to local consumption and production (Bassens et al, 2020). More broadly, it is important to support the regional economy and enhance labour market participation through education, training and skills policy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digitalisation and the foundational economy: A digital opportunity or a digital divide for less-developed regions?

Reynolds

Henderson

et al. 2021

Local Economy: The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit

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The foundational economy’s heightened traction in academic and policy discussion stems in part from its potential to mitigate challenges faced by less-developed regions. While supporting foundational sectors may contribute to inclusive and sustainable growth, we question whether digitalisation can enable these aims. Through a case study of Wales, we point to the differences in digital capability of foundational and non-foundational businesses in urban and rural parts of the region. We show that while investment in digital infrastructure and digital technology use may support the foundational economy, digital barriers risk countering the benefits of its sectors’ embeddedness and exacerbating spatial divides.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Digitalisation and the foundational economy: A digital opportunity or a digital divide for less-developed regions?

Reynolds

Henderson

et al. 2021

Local Economy: The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit

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“…Secondly, other authors remark that there is a limited understanding about the political implications of the CE on urban development including whether existing circular urban systems and circular practices contribute to a socio-ecological transformation or are continuing an exploitative development logic [16]. Besides that, critical scholarship has pointed to considerable implementation gaps in how circular ideas for city systems are operationalised in practice [17] indicating that 'circular urban developments' tend to remain largely on a rhetoric strategy level and are disengaged from urban theory and praxis [18]. The next chapter provides the theoretical lens for analysing the cases.…”

Section: Research Gapsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The socio-spatial effects of Circular Urban Systems

Hubmann

2022

IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci.

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This article shows what kind of urban spaces are produced by circular systems. The focus is on the socio-spatial dimension of closed material loops in two neighbourhoods (e.g., reuse of grey water, recycling of waste, provision of renewable energy). Although the Circular Economy (CE) narrative is increasingly part of urban transformation policies, there are considerable implementation gaps in how regenerative or self-sufficient systems are operationalised in practice. I argue that the application of circularity principles in the urban context requires conceptual clarification to be useful for urban theory and praxis. Therefore, I provide a political ecology perspective of circular urban systems by analysing two cases: Block 6 in Berlin and Schoonschip in Amsterdam. I explain how such systems were established, who benefits from them, and what kind of socio-spatial conditions they produce. Methodologically, I use several qualitative research methods in the framework of a case study analysis. The results show that the incremental and publicly financed low-tech development of circular systems is socially compatible while privately funded high-tech developments result in stronger levels of sustainability but are reserved to a small exclusive group of people and provoke gentrification processes.

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“…As a response to the current social and environmental issues, principles of circular economies are advocated, conceptualizing applications for cities [91][92][93][94] as in transitioning to a circular economy the role of the built, and particularly the urban environment, is crucial [93]. Core aspects include issues of energy, recycling resources, but at a local level, the key strategy promoted is waste management [95,96].…”

Section: Literature Review 21 Revitalization Of Small Towns and Thementioning

confidence: 99%

Revitalization of Public Spaces in Cittaslow Towns: Recent Urban Redevelopment in Central Europe

et al. 2021

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Revitalization of cities varies depending on the scale of a city, type of challenges, and the socio-environmental context in each case. While revitalization projects carried out in globally known cities are well described, there is still a gap in characterizing revitalization processes that aim to improve quality of life in smaller units like medium-sized towns. This paper fills this gap by the insight from 82 revitalization projects implemented in 14 towns of Warmia and Mazury region (Poland) which are associated in the Cittaslow movement. The study combines a quantitative assessment of statistical data describing these projects with their qualitative evaluation based on interviews with local experts. The results of conducted analyses show that socio-economic development plays a major role as, despite projects which directly refer to the social domain, social elements were found also in projects initially categorized as those targeted to architectural and spatial domains. On the other hand, the authors observed that environmental and ecological as well as cultural issues are treated unevenly or marginally in projects compared to social ones. Interviews with experts show that the least importance was assigned to cultural and historical domain. The obtained results might constitute important knowledge to understand the background of current revitalization processes outside of global metropolises to improve future mechanisms supporting urban renewal.

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Placing cities in the circular economy: neoliberal urbanism or spaces of socio-ecological transition?

Cited by 25 publications

References 16 publications

Digitalisation and the foundational economy: A digital opportunity or a digital divide for less-developed regions?

Digitalisation and the foundational economy: A digital opportunity or a digital divide for less-developed regions?

The socio-spatial effects of Circular Urban Systems

Revitalization of Public Spaces in Cittaslow Towns: Recent Urban Redevelopment in Central Europe

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