While the pathways allow us to map the different scales and stages of circular neighbourhoods, a number of cross-cutting features can also be observed. These are the policies and steps that stakeholders such as city governments can take to help establish circular practices at the neighbourhood scale.
Direct investment
While local organisations can start up local circular economycircular economyA systems solution framework that tackles global challenges like climate change, biodiversity loss, waste, and pollution. It is based on three principles, driven by design: eliminate waste and pollution, circulate products and materials (at their highest value), and regenerate nature. activities such as community gardens, local government investment is essential for their wider uptake, replication and long-term viability. Cities can leverage existing neighbourhood investments, such as planned transport or utilities upgrades, or can access investment funds from city-wide plans or strategies. Private companies and other organisations can also provide the required investment, for example by ring-fencing funds for circular economy or community activities, or including them as part of sustainability or CSR strategies.
Partnerships for governance
Circular economy activities in neighbourhoods may be led by one organisation, such as a city government entity, business, or community group. However, a consortium with multiple stakeholder groups can increase the effectiveness and staying power of the initiative, by combining private-sector efficiency with public-sector vision and local knowledge. Collaboration between local governments also enables the exchange of information and learnings and helps cities deliver more effective climate action.
Public engagement
Communities and businesses can have invaluable insights around whether a circular initiative addresses local environmental and socio-economic needs. Engagement with these stakeholders can look like: crowd-sourcing ideas for circular initiatives; participatory budgeting to give citizens a direct say in how city funds are spent; and obtaining regular feedback on projects to gain data and knowledge. These approaches not only generate learnings that help to iterate circular economy projects, but also creates a sense of shared ownership and personal investment among local people.
Smart technology and mapping
Smart digital solutions can enable cities to collect data, engage citizens in urban planning, and map the spatial, social and environmental assets that exist in neighbourhoods - helping to identify opportunities for circular initiatives and which areas are in need of support. Publicly available interactive maps can elevate circular goods and services, such as the North London Waste Authority’s electronics repair map, Paris’s cool islands map showing where citizens can retreat during heatwaves, and Gothenburg’s smart-map of locations to hire, borrow, share, and swap items.
Paris’ ‘Îlots de fraîcheur’ map
Small-scale urban manufacturing
Maintaining a productive sector in cities plays a key role in creating circular neighbourhoods. Local manufacturing businesses may adopt cleaner technologies if their consumers are in physical proximity, while byproducts from one business can be put to use by other facilities in the local area, closing material loops. Urban manufacturing can also maintainmaintainKeep a product in its existing state of quality, functionally and/or cosmetically, to guard against failure or decline. It is a practice that retains the highest value of a product by extending its use period. a local skills base for repairrepairOperation by which a faulty or broken product or component is returned back to a usable state to fulfil its intended use., remanufacturing and other product and material loops.
Collective ownership of the built environment
Community Land Trusts are democratic, non-profit organisations that own and develop land to provide affordable housing and other activities that benefit the community and future generations. This shared ownership can positively affect both the circular ambitions of a neighbourhood. For example, H-Buurt is the first Community Land Trust in the Netherlands, whose 140 members not only develop and manage affordable housing, but also shape decisions on neighbourhood amenities such as community gardens or shared tools and vehicles.
