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Circle Economy and ICLEI have partnered up to initiate the go to knowledge hub of case studies about the circular economy in cities. The Cities Collection is a repository of case studies that demonstrate the role of cities in the circular transition, and includes policies, business cases and research articles. Cases in the Collection flow into an ecosystem of digital products which support users in transitioning cities to circularity, for example [Ganbatte](https://ganbatte.world/cities/) and <a href="https://circulars.iclei.org/" target="_blank">ICLEI Circulars</a>, both part of the <a href="https://circulars.iclei.org/circle-lab-for-cities/" target = _blank">Circle Lab for Cities Programme.</a>




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Circular Cities

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Starter Kit collection

Policy case

Impact on the availability of resources as well as their effect on living organisms, ecosystems, and components of the environment.

Ecological Impact

Impacts on the social fabric of the community and well-being of the individuals and families.

Social Impact

Impacts on the financial condition of a company, as well as the the economicconditions of its stakeholders and on economic systems at local, national, andglobal levels.

Economic Impact

Impact on the health and happiness of human populations

Well-being

Impact on the ease of innovation, and facilitating uptake of innovations

Innovation

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

Producing transporation equipment and providing services for thetransportation of goods and people

Transportation and Logistics

Providing air, water, rail, and land transportation for passengers, such as airlines, airports, ferries, cruise-ships, tour boat operators, marine ports, railways, train stations, tour bus operators, vehicle rental, and taxi companies, travel agencies and related services

Passenger Transport Services

Use digital, online platforms and technologies that provide insights to track and optimise resource use, strengthen connections between supply chain actors, and enable the implementation of circular models



Incorporate digital technology

Employ technologies to gather and analyse data to provide insights on resource use

Data and insights

Installing sensors to gather data from products and services to identify, enable and/or implement circular strategies (eg. effective resource use & logistics planning, circular business models & design)

Sensors, monitoring systems

'Manage' influences the use and function of physical and material elements within the urban environment. 

Manage

Infrastructure

Develop infrastructure to support sustainable lifestyles

'Mobilise' sets the direction of and builds momentum towards long-term change, while also determining how this direction is determined and governed.

Mobilise

Govern the Transition

Institutional design to enable circularity

Participatory governance mechanisms

Innovation-oriented public procurement

 Public Procurement

Develop infrastructure to support resource cycling

Redesign systems to lay the foundation for circular activities and enable the transition to a circular economy 

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Rethink

**Harmonize with nature** by promoting infrastructure, production systems and sourcing that allows natural ecosystems to thrive




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Regenerate

Do better with less by using and supporting infrastructure, processes and products that are designed to minimize material, water and energy use and waste generation from production to end of use


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Reduce

Includes a variety of actions (e.g. campaigns, information sharing, public events) that encourage city residents and visitors to build sustainable practices into their daily lives

Enable sustainable lifestyles

Includes measures that protect and enhance ecosystems and biodiversity both within and beyond city boundaries, as well as actions to restore degraded ecosystems.


Protect and restore local ecosystems

Put enablers in place that allow circular businessesto grow, thrive and innovate (e.g. incubators, start-up funding, partnerships, innovation deals, business capacity building and testing groundsfor new business models).


Support circular and resource-efficient business innovations

Governments

The mobility choices and behaviours of residents and businesses can vary greatly depending on the structure and design of the city. A sprawling city covering large areas with wide highways and no bike lanes discourages cycling and increases dependence on private vehicles, which contribute significantly to resource demand and GHG emissions. Meanwhile, a more compact city with mixed use developments, accessible public transport and extensive and appealing pedestrian and cycle networks enables and encourages walking, cycling and other non-motorised, low-carbon forms of mobility. Combined with urban planning that incentivises higher densities along major public transport routes, transit-oriented development can help to slow the outward expansion of cities into the surrounding countryside. 

Compact city planning can help local communities build and create more efficient, safe and viable cities. This concept includes ideas such as the 15-minute city or ‘complete neighbourhoods’, whereby all of the basic needs and services of a resident can be accessed within 15 minutes by walking, cycling or public transport. This concept has also attracted attention as a way to reduce inequality by ensuring that all neighbourhoods have access to affordable mobility options.

Local governments can support the development of compact and low-carbon cities by integrating such concepts into the city’s urban plans, and ensuring that all residents are easily able to conduct their day-to-day lives using non-motorised or public transport. Cities can also ensure that necessary and facilitating infrastructure is provided, such as cycle lanes, pedestrianised areas and public transport options, to enable the shift away from dependency on personal vehicles.


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🚌  Compact city planning and development

In cities, logistics is a key part of the mobility system, with freight transport making up on average 25% of traffic in cities, while taking up 40% of the road space, and generating 40% of transport-related emissions ([ICLEI](https://sustainablemobility.iclei.org/framing-sustainable-urban-logistics-in-cities/)). Often, urban logistics and freight vehicles commonly carry loads that are below full capacity, since much of urban logistics is centred around the last- or first- mile which has a strong preference for speed and convenience. This therefore means that more vehicles are on the streets, contributing to increased emissions, congestion and air pollution in urban areas. 

Optimisation of urban logistics systems can reduce the total quantities of vehicles on the roads and associated emissions and congestion. In addition to this, cities that are intrinsically linked to a port can optimise the incoming freight, the logistics of unloading, before such loads enter the urban mobility system. One such example is shared logistics systems that pool resources intelligently via digital systems that can match available load capacity with demand to minimise the total quantity of kilometres travelled and the number of vehicles required. Furthermore, decentralised distribution centres throughout cities can act as hubs for low-carbon and non-motorised logistics vehicles and achieve similar benefits in reducing the number of vehicles driving in cities, which can be particularly effective for last- and first-mile logistics.

Local governments can support such optimisation systems by providing financial and in kind aid to innovations and initiatives that are focused on improving the technologies and processes that underpin and enable urban logistics. To this end, cities can share real-time transport related data to optimise logistics routes and support such innovations. Finally, cities can also leverage regulations to establish a minimum load capacity for logistics vehicles entering (certain parts of) the city. 


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🚌  Optimised & low-carbon freight and logistics systems

Designing products with a single material type to more easily recycle them after use

Design for recycling - mono-materials

Extraction and reuse of parts from end-of-life products for use in new products

Part recovery

Decentralised services that rely on the power of the crowd or the community

Crowd-based services

Working together with stakeholders and parties in other unrelated industries to implement circular economy strategies and opportunities

Cross-industry projects, pilots

Designing products to remove any barriers to recycling and enable easy recyclability

Design for recycling

Marketplaces or services that enable the second hand sale of own-brand products

Own brand second-hand sale

Utilising data and models to to identify, enable and/or implement circular strategies (eg. effective resource use & logistics planning, circular business models & design)

Data analytics, modelling

Utilise waste streams as a source of secondary resources and recover waste for reuse and recycling

Use waste as a resource

Allowing customers to alter and modify certain features of the product

Customisation

Designing products so they are able to be easily repaired

Design for repair

Developing or utilising online marketplaces to enable the peer-to-peer exchange of products and services

Peer-to-peer online marketplaces

Providing repair services or maintenance services for products or parts

Product maintenance, repair

Integrate principles of circularity into primary, secondary and tertiary curriculum and conduct workplace trainings

 Education and Curriculum

Transforming waste products, materials for reuse within the same industry

Closed loop upcycling

Ensure that biological products are properly managed and preserved

Maximise lifetime of biological products

Using <a href="https://echa.europa.eu/information-on-chemicals" target="_blank">materials that are not toxic or hazardous</a>.

Non-toxic materials and inputs

Recover waste energy or generate fuels and energy from waste streams

Energy recovery from waste

Connecting products and services into the internet of things to identify, enable and/or implement circular strategies (eg. effective resource use & logistics planning, circular business models & design)

Internet enabled, connected operations

Ensure renewable, reusable, non-toxic resources are utilised as materials and energy in an efficient way

Prioritise regenerative resources

Providing products through leasing, rental, or pay-per-use models instead of sales

Leasing, rental, pay per use

Account for the systems perspective during the design process, to use the right materials, to design for appropriate lifetime and to design for extended future use

Design for the future

Using materials that can be easily reused or recycled after use

Reusable, recyclable materials and inputs

Selling parts of modular products that can be exchanged or replaced

Sale of exchangeable parts

Using waste materials that have been processed and recycled to produce new products within the same industry

Using closed loop recycled materials

Using bio-based materials such as bioplastics, mushroom-based materials, etc.

Alternative bio-based materials and inputs

Deliver services through business models that ensure maximum value

Service business models

Preserving and conserving biological products such as food, forests, etc.

Preservation, conservation

Providing upgrade programmes or upgrade services for products or parts of products

Product upgrade

Provide guidance or professional training to educate employees to use circular economy principles

Training on the circular economy

Designing products to increase consumer’s emotional attachment and ensure longer use

Design for product attachment, emotional durability

Selling high quality, long-lasting products

Sale of durable, long-lasting goods

Developing or utilising online platforms to enable circular economy opportunities through information, product or service offering

Online platforms

Generating energy from waste through processes such as anaerobic digestion, gasification, incineration, etc.

Generating energy from waste

Takeback and return of products from customers after end-of-use

Takeback programmes

Work together throughout the supply chain, internally within organisations and with the public sector and communities to increase transparency and create joint value

Team up to create joint value

Marketplaces or services that enable the second hand sale of products

Second-hand sale, distribution

Putting in place purchasing guidelines for procurement departments and evaluating suppliers on circular economy principles

Circular procurement

Deliver products through business models that ensure maximum value

Product business models

Designing products so they use as little materials, water, energy, etc. as possible during use

Design for resource efficiency

Designing products that are made to last and to ensure longer use

Design for durability

Participating in government programmes that support and advance the circular economy

Government programmes

Using waste materials that have been processed and recycled to produce new products within other industries

Using open loop recycled materials

Working together with customers to jointly create products fit for them

Co-creation

Reuse, repurpose, and recycle waste streams within the same industry

Valorise waste streams - closed loop

Employ online platforms to connect and improve information sharing between stakeholders

Digital platforms

Using <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/growth/sectors/raw-materials/specific-interest/critical_sv" target="_blank">materials that are not considered critical</a>.

Non-critical materials and inputs 

Utilise bio-based, reusable, non-toxic and non-critical materials

Regenerative materials

Enacting measures that optimise material use such as 3D printing, etc.

Material efficiency

Providing services where customers are charged only when they use it

Payment per use

Providing products through sharing between consumers, customers, etc.

Peer to peer sharing

Engage with the government on circular policies and programmes

Government collaboration

Engaging in discussions with government bodies and policymakers to push for regulations that support the circular economy

Advocacy for circular economy policy

Collection programmes that process products and parts for reuse or recycling within the same industry

Closed loop collection

Key elements of the circular economy

<p>To improve road use during different times of the day and levels of traffic, cities can make use of intelligent LED lights or other innovation, to better adapt to the road situation in real-time. </p>