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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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Policy case

Direct and indirect reduction in economic costs

Cost Savings

Reduced use and withdrawal of water and rate of recycling and reuse of water

Save Water (SDG6)

Reduced use of fossil fuel energy sources and/or increased use of renewable energy

Reduce Energy Consumption

Providing water and sewage services, including water collection and distribution, water treatment systems and sewage treatment facilities

Water and Sewage

Producing electric cables and wires, power-generating equipment, including solar modules, motors, power turbines, as well as electronic equipment and instruments, including computer chips, communication equipment, analytical instruments, lasers, display screens, point-of-sales machines, security system equipment, and healthcare equipment

Electrical and Electronic Equipment

Processing and producing food and beverages for consumption

Food and Beverage

While resources are in-use, maintain, repair and upgrade them to maximise their lifetime and give them a second life through take back strategies when applicable

Stretch the lifetime

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

Maintenance to extend useful life

Use longer and more often by extending and intensifying use of existing resources, products, spaces and infrastructure

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Reuse

Maintain and repair city-owned spaces and infrastructure to increase longevity, and support opportunities for residents to do the same for privately owned items and property

Support reuse, repair, remanufacturing, maintenance of existing resources, products, spaces & infrastructure

The food system nourishes populations and employs 50% of the global workforce, but:
- it currently drives a quarter of the overshoot on the climate change planetary boundary due to its greenhouse gas (GHG) production, 
- animal farming alone uses over one-quarter of all land, equivalent to the size of the Americas,
- nearly a quarter of freshwater resources are lost due to rampant food waste, and
- it is the single largest driver of biodiversity loss.

A circular food system must address the whole value chain, from production to consumption to waste management. The four key solutions for the food system are:
- Put healthier, satiating foods first: Prioritise satiating and healthy foods with a lower environmental impact—ideally shifting calories from meat, fish, and dairy towards cereals, fruits, vegetables, and nuts.
- Go local, seasonal, and organic: Prioritise the production and consumption of local, seasonal, and organic produce (sometimes in combination with GMO to reduce pests and disease loss on crops), which can lead to a significantly reduced need for chemical inputs, fuels, and processing services that contribute to environmental impacts.
- Mainstream regenerative agriculture: Scale up agricultural practices that regenerate ecosystems, recirculate nutrients and sequester carbon by design. 
- End avoidable food waste: Minimise food loss and valorise waste following the food waste hierarchy along the supply chain and at the consumer level through better management of transport and storage, more refrigeration and smart planning, and technology at the consumer and food service levels.



🍏 Food Systems

Governments

Impacts

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Industries

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A framework of policy instruments that enabled and encourage the transition to the circular economy

Policy Instruments

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A framework of policy instruments that enable and stimulate the transition to the circular economy

The principles of a circular economy concern designing out waste, regenerating ecosystems and keeping items in use. Decoupling the economy from material flows—improving the rate of resource productivity faster than the economic growth rate—is also a consistent guide. By evolving with the growing number of applications of circular economy principles, and consolidating these strategies across thematic areas, Circle Economy’s Key Elements Framework (KE) renders the elements of the circular economy salient and serves as a basis to derive contextual strategies and interventions. 


The Framework consists of:
- Core Elements: Activities directly handling product or material flows; and uniquely,
- Enabling Elements: those that remove obstacles for core actors.


Key elements of the circular economy

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Circle Economy's framework of strategies and activities that define the circular economy

The Circular City Actions Framework provides urban changemakers with five complementary strategies they can use to start working towards a more circular system. 

The framework is action-based to provide users with concrete strategic directions and showcase the desired outcomes of each strategy. 
The framework consists of five complementary **strategies**, under which **sub-strategies** provide further detail. Finally, each sub-strategy consists of a diversity of tangible **solutions** which are framed in relation to key thematic areas. 

Note: solutions are currently focused on:
- 🍏 **Food systems**
- 🏢  **Built environment**
- 👕📱  **Consumer goods**
- ⚡ **Energy Systems**
- 🚌 **Mobility Systems**
- 💧 **Water Systems**

More thematic areas are coming soon...

'Click through each of the five strategy cards below to explore the framework and circular economy case studies in more depth!'



This framework was developed in collaboration with ICLEI, Metabolic and Ellen MacArthur Foundation with support from the MAVA Foundation. Read more about it [here]( https://circulars.iclei.org/action-framework/). 



Circular City Actions Framework

An action-based framework for local governments working towards circular cities

Thematic Areas

City Stakeholders

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Based on the work of [Bocken et al. (2016)](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309699661_Product_design_and_business_model_strategies_for_a_circular_economy), the Four Flows Framework serves as a simple framework for managing resource flows in a circular economy by using less (Narrow), using for longer (Slow), using again (Cycle), and using clean, regenerative materials and energy (Regenerate).

These different principles of circular economy can be applied to our socioeconomic metabolism: we can design stocks like buildings, infrastructure, machinery, and vehicles to be rich resource mines for the future, and design manufactured goods and consumables to be cycled and made regenerative. Furthermore, the focus must also centre on getting more value out of fewer materials. Achieving the aims of a circular economy—minimising material use, regenerating the Earth, and preventing material losses—can be done through these four key strategies mentioned above.

Source: Circle Economy. (2023). *[The circularity gap report 2023](https://www.circularity-gap.world/2023)* (p.22). Amsterdam: Circle Economy. 

Four Flows Framework

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Barcelona

City of Barcelona

<p>As part of its ambitions to become a sustainable food city, Barcelona is modernising municipal food markets by upgrading/repairing water and electricity infrastructure to minimise leakages and move towards a more conscious use of resources.</p>

Barcelona upgrades food market infrastructure 

Impact on the health and happiness of human populations

Well-being

Reduced green house gas emissions released into the biosphere

Reduce Emissions (SDG13)

Contributing to the improvement of biodiversity including species diversity, total number of protected species, and ecosystem health

Biodiversity

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

Transportation and Logistics

Societal Services

Producing building materials and providing services to create residential and non-residential infrastructure and real estate


Construction and Infrastructure

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

Participating in government programmes that support and advance the circular economy

Government programmes

Compact city development

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

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Rethink

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

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

 Aerial view above of Barcelona superblocks, Spain. Image Copyright: Westend61 / Amazing Aerial
Barcelona’s Superblocks (Superille in Catalan) became a part of global best practices for two significant reasons–a) Prioritising people over cars with a focus on accessibility, and b) following community participation rulebook. ‘Superblocks’ are 400 x 400 m units–bigger than a block, yet small than a whole neighbourhood. Through the said urban design concept, the city aims to recover space for the community, improve biodiversity, move towards sustainable mobility, and encourage social cohesion.
Barcelona introduced the Superilles–a government-funded project identifying 120 intersections to be converted, in the 2013-2018 Urban Mobility Plan of Barcelona. The motive was to reduce vehicular pollution and move towards sustainable mobility. As a result, the council is now looking at transforming one in three streets in L’Eixample district- the part of the city designed by Cerdà. Beginning in 2022, moving from east to west, the urban designers want to remodel 21 streets by 2030. The 2024 Urban Mobility Plan only fuels the city’s vision of creating 503 superblocks throughout the city in the future.
Tracing the basics
Cities around the world are taking inspiration from Barcelona’s ‘Superblock’ concept. The clusters of inner-minor streets called green streets in the superblocks are closed to through traffic. Vehicles are allowed primarily for accessing residences, public transport, disabled people, emergency vehicles, and bicycles used for recreation only. Cyclists using bicycles as the primary mode of transport are likely to move faster. Hence, they will have to abide by a speed limit. The limit is the same as for hand scooters and other vehicles of 10km/hr within the superblock. Further, motorised vehicular movement is in only one direction. The roads thus become public spaces that are open and safe for use by pedestrians for varying purposes.
Public space in a Superblock. Image source: Ajuntament de Barcelona The Superblock concept emerged in Barcelona city planning repeatedly but was not turned into an urban design initiative until now. Architects Josep Lluís Sert and Le Corbusier in Barcelona’s Plan Macià, 1932, included 400x400m modules. In 1958, architect Oriol Bohigas suggested joining nine blocks in the urban fabric of L’Eixample to adapt modern mobility concepts. Later, under the Ecosystem Urbanism model, the Barcelona Agency of Urban Ecology followed through to create the Superblocks.
Barcelona introduced its first superblock in 1993 near the Basilica de Santa Maria del Mar in the historical neighbourhood of El Born. In 2005, two more superblocks in Gràcia were planned. Pilot projects started in 2014 and increased pedestrian trips by 10%, accounting for 2,01,843 trips annually. The trips by cyclist went up by 30% as well. Since 2016, Barcelona has worked on implementing six fully functional superblocks in the city. Stakeholders involved in the ‘open project’, as they call it, varied from residents, city council, private companies, district organisations, non-governmental organisations, universities, and expert institutions.
Community Unrest
Movement through a superblock explained. Image Source: Superblocks: How Barcelona is taking city streets back from cars – Video by Vox on youtube
The idea may sound perfect, but the journey was not so smooth. Major pushback from the selected superblock neighbourhoods, especially the local shop owners, was experienced during the pilot run. The same may happen during the Superille rollout in L’Eixample because of the immensity of space in the discussion. The argument was that restricted car movement would affect business, and their customer base will fall drastically. The city council counter-argued how, at present, only 5% of customers access the commercial premises on L’Eixample by car. The available off-street parking areas can cater to the increased demand in the future. Furthermore, there is an inclusion of goods vehicles and individual cars’ movement in the design of the green streets for loading and unloading goods. Public space in a Superblock. Photo by: Anna Beltri
They also faced community resistance due to concerns regarding gentrification, rising property values, and residents’ displacement.  People worried it would slowly push the current residents out after their leases expire. Two arguments make way here. First, the council introduced the pilot runs in areas with social housing, which means the government was careful not to fuel the discrimination amongst rich and poor neighbourhoods. Second, the identified 120 interactions spread across the city clearly shows their purpose is to have more space for people and less for cars throughout the metropolis. The city council claims to be thoughtful of the green and open public spaces on the real estate market. Thus, aim at fostering equality and avoid concentrations and localisation amongst areas and between neighbourhoods.
The long-term vision
‘Superblocks’ initiative goes hand in hand with redefining mobility. The 2024 Urban Mobility Plan focuses on transforming the mobility patterns in Barcelona. The aim is to reduce private vehicles journeys from 26.04% to 18.48%. Another target is to have 81.54% of all journeys on foot, bicycle, and public transport journeys by 2024. The council listed 300 specific measures for the coming years, including but not limited to adding 32km pedestrian-only streets, expanding bike network by 40%, adding 30km/hr lane on roads with three or more lanes, etc.
Green space before and after Superilles implementation. Image source: Ajuntament de Barcelona
Considering the shrunk road capacity for cars, the municipality expects a shift to public transport. Hence, it is also adding 67km of bus lanes, increasing the efficiency of the system and reviewing demand specific routes. Salvador Rueda and his team designed an orthogonal bus network that aligns with the superblock traffic diversion. The bus network is currently under implementation. The number of bus routes will go from 94 to 28 while increasing the system’s efficiency. The waiting time will be about five minutes, and a one-direction-trip time in the city will be approximately 35 minutes across the city.
Simultaneously, a metro system improvement strategy is also in the pipeline. At the same time, schemes such as park-and-ride, book-and-ride buses, and public-taxi applications are also under development. The ‘Green axes’ for the Superblock project are meant to connect green areas, transit stops, and commercial activities. Although cars and motorbikes can access these plazas, they cannot cross the junction. The plazas or squares formed at junctions of intersecting green streets will become locations for socialising, leisure activities, play areas, etc.
Green axes identified for the SuperillesImage source: Ajuntament de Barcelona
A Design for All
The city rolled out the pilot projects in six neighbourhoods with adequate intervals to better refine the public participation process. The goal is to encourage social cohesion and collaboration. For example, under Phase 2 of the ‘Superilles’ project, new practices such as green roofs, water harvesting, rainwater management, and tree plantings are significant. Concurrently, they are also considering new flexible uses for terrace space and a usage plan to safeguard against an excess concentration of similar establishments. In addition, it would give room for diverse and multipurpose uses. Also, fewer vehicles and more people on the lanes would ultimately attract attention towards local business and increase potential retail success.
Public Participation processImage source: Ajuntament de Barcelona
Even the European investment bank (EIB) is to finance 40 projects in Barcelona to support climate change mitigation and adaptations. The promised amount to promote urban regeneration 95 million euros. Up to 23% of the total EU bank funding will regenerate 2,00,000 m2 across the city under the superblock project. Concurrently, a study carried out by ISGlobal (Barcelona Institute for Global Health) implied a fall in private vehicles by 2,30,000 a week as people switch to public transport, bicycle or walking because of the 503 envisaged superblocks.
Green and civic spaces often affect real estate values, and Barcelona has a name amongst the international housing market. However, the Superilles are to spread all across the Cerdà Grid. Altogether, the chances of real estate property values going high in one neighbourhood are a sceptic but uncertain one. If the government puts policy in place that keeps the green zones affordable and prevents them from turning into wealthy enclaves, the plan benefits all.
Becoming an exemplar
La Pinya, in a 2018 article, mentioned that the city had only 0.6% of green spaces. The Barcelona City Council in 2019 suggested the number of communal space under green parks and gardens went up to 11%. The Superille project is likely to increase the number substantially as Barcelona revitalises its streets and public spaces. Planned redesigning of intersection in L’Eixample District to create green plazas.Rendering: Ajuntament de Barcelona

The revitalisation is not limited to additional space allocated for leisure activities but also considers major design elements, including curbless paving to improve accessibility for all, rigid and tenji blocks for those with visual impairment, obstacles to demarcate a pedestrian zone outside building facades. Obstacles to restrict access by vehicles within the superblock will include spike strips and boom barriers. Further, guidelines for street design have primary requirements of at least 20% of surfacing to be permeable. Simultaneously, 80% of the street should have tree cover and shade for summers. Other pivotal actions include eliminating parking areas from pavements, monitoring bike lanes, accessible lifts, and escalators in public spaces.
Barcelona’s Citizen Commitment for Sustainability 2012-2022 plan focuses specifically on small-scale interventions and people participation. Rethinking and regenerating the city neighbourhoods was at the root of introducing the superblock concept. Under the Programme for Promoting Urban Green Infrastructures, the council is looking to increase the green area in the metropolis up to 1m2 per habitant, which account for 165 ha of land conversion into small parks and public squares by 2030.
Regardless, keeping people at the centre of all decisions is applaudable. Instantly the vision seems grand but promising. Barcelona is turning into a giant superblock, and the world is rooting for it!
El born Neighbourhood. Photo by: Daniel Etter for The New York Times 

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<p>Barcelona’s Superblocks became a part of global best practices for two significant reasons: a) prioritising people over cars with a focus on accessibility, and b) following community participation rulebook. ‘Superblocks’ are 400 x 400 m units–bigger than a block, yet small than a whole neighbourhood. Through the said urban design concept, the city aims to recover space for the community, improve biodiversity, move towards sustainable mobility, and encourage social cohesion. Making it faster to travel within a city, as well as encouraging people to travel by foot, bike and public transport, is an important step towards a more circular city through reduced material requirements and fossil fuel consumption.</p>