This City Conversation event took place online on 6 February 2024.
Cities rely on massive amounts of resources to support their growth and metabolism. Rapid urbanisation is leading to mass overconsumption and pollution, generating around 70% of global carbon dioxide emissions and increasingly unlivable urban environments. The global population living in cities is expected to rapidly rise to 80% in 2050 and with most countries having committed to ‘NetZero’ by the same time, the current linear approach needs to change: it is essential to lower emissions and consumption of resources.
The Circular City model emphasises efficient material cycles, the use of renewable energy and at the same time the preservation of biodiversity, the promotion of culture and the prioritisation of health. However, progress toward this transformative shift is hampered by the absence of comprehensive and holistic strategies, paired with limited awareness, insufficient knowledge, fragmented stakeholder collaboration, data scarcity, and a lack of supportive regulations and political will.
Kitty Walker and Anika Buchmaier who chaired the proceedings introduced how the conversation would give an overview of the concept of circularity and the circular city model whilst highlighting the success of circular approaches through examples from several European cities Paris, Amsterdam and Copenhagen.
As with all these Conversations we would recommend you view or review the recording to get the full benefit of the panel contributions. We provide a short summary of the topics covered below.
Watch the recording of our Conversation
The conversation focussed mainly on materials systems and policy and governance differences between all the cities present in the conversation (London, Cape Town, Paris, Amsterdam & Copenhagen), with discussions centred around robust supply chains, plan for materials at end of life. Designing our buildings to be disassembled at the end of life may be key to redefining the value of the materials already in existence in our cities. Starting from the provocation “Build Nothing!”, we must decide how we shape our future urban landscapes.
Sophie Moggs, Policy analyst at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation gave an overview of the principles of a circular economy at macro-scale and the role and opportunities for cities, using London as one example. She outlined three design-driven principles which counteract our wasteful linear production systems. She provided figures on how much cities contribute to the global circular economy in terms of consumption, emissions and waste, whilst at the same time bringing together the potential benefits of finance, knowledge, innovation and networks. She describes some of the opportunities for cities in terms of the built environment, giving an example of Curitiba in Brazil who are enjoying the benefits of a number of circular principles adopted 30 years ago. She also describes new flexible models for city real estate where there are fewer tangible case studies and more challenges. In London all large-scale developments are now required to provide a circular economy statement in their planning submissions where the developer needs to demonstrate circular principles in the development, Sophie provides examples of some of these circular business models. She also reflects on the difference between working within the private and public sectors.
Kelley Rowe is a chapter member of the African Circular Economy Network and currently working for Brink from South Africa. She focuses on the systems thinking view and decoupling from a revenue driven approach, taking a global view of what inclusive economies actually look like and how we create future economies that bring people into the mix. She points out that cities in Africa may have very different profiles in terms of population growth, prosperity and consumption. Although they may draw on circular city models from more developed nations, they are looking for enabling conditions that bring about inclusive and equitable models. This may be as simple as hand tool ‘libraries’ for people to build and maintain their own homes. She emphasises how climate change is the most disruptive influence on the profile of cities and how the model needs to accommodate this.
Stephany Le Rhun, Principal Engineer on Circularity, Setec, Paris, gave an overview of national law in France regarding material recovery, embodied energy, and waste, describing their impact on practice. The most unique of these regulations relates to an eco-tax whose aim is to create the conditions for a circular economy in materials, another law introduced this year pushes anti waste on deconstructions or significant refurbishments. France appears to be leading the way with ambitious re-use targets, using a predominantly top-down approach, although the target figures given for the impact of this are sobering but realistic. She provides some examples where different Communes in Paris are putting this into practice. It is interesting to see how a top down approach to regulation has resulted in a dispersal of urban schemes across the country and Stephany concludes by presenting a study about what is the most powerful scale for climate action to enact change, demonstrating at what levels we can make the most difference, along with the notion of ‘social tipping points’.
Cornelia Dinca, the founder of Sustainable Amsterdam started with giving an overview of the innovation strategies and policies implemented in Amsterdam, how they started implementing actions through looking at waste and mapping flows within their city and highlights the three value chains which Amsterdam has dedicated their focus on. Cornelia gave an overview of stakeholders within Amsterdam, a blend between balance between start-ups and also municipalities. Amsterdam utilizes the doughnut economics model, founded by Kate Raworth, which holistically looks at the social, environmental, local and global aspects. She concludes with some precedents from Amsterdam which have implemented circular solutions.
Anders Bang Kiertzner from Lendager, provides the building and urban background to the development of their architectural practice in Copenhagen. He demonstrates through a number of large-scale projects how to incorporate circularity in design. In particular understanding the size of elements which work in material reuse strategies. Their most recent project is ambitious in the proportion of material which is retained from the original project and pushes the boundaries of what we could aim for.
There were a number animated and inspired audience responses to each of the presentations. It was great to see a built environment audience looking for examples of success from outside the sector also whilst there was also great interest in examples of city materials exchanges.
Finally the principal speakers were asked what they felt were the opportunities and barriers to a more circular city model:
Sophie highlighted various opportunities and barriers in implementing circular solutions. Opportunities include reducing new constructions, enhancing resource efficiency, and lowering operational costs. However, barriers such as limited capacities in city councils, securing political support, silo mentalities among industries, lack of data measurements, absence of monitoring frameworks, and the need for a paradigm shift from linear to circular thinking pose significant challenges. Sophie emphasized the importance of education in promoting circular economy principles.
Kelley underscored the significance of cultivating a mindset that embraces openness and curiosity towards the concept of circularity. She emphasized the value of experimentation within the local ecosystem and stressed the importance of collaborative thinking as pivotal elements in realizing circular city initiatives.
Stephany emphasised the potential of leveraging political regulations and establishing platforms to support the integration of reclaimed materials in urban development. However, she didn’t delve into specific barriers in her discussion, focusing primarily on the opportunities presented by proactive governmental support and regulatory frameworks.
Cornelia delved into the complexities surrounding true pricing and the need to address externalities in the pursuit of circularity. She advocated for policies at various levels of government to incentivize sustainable practices, including a shift in taxation towards materials to encourage repair over the acquisition of new goods. Moreover, Cornelia highlighted the imperative for global cooperation, emphasizing the need for the Global South to learn from the mistakes of the North and adopt resilient, regenerative approaches.
Anders proposed the utilisation of a regulatory toolbox for governments on different levels to maximize the reuse of existing building stock within cities. By implementing policies that prioritize high-value reuse, he suggested a pathway towards more sustainable urban development practices.
The Panel
Kitty Walker and Anika Buchmaier, Buro Happold
Sophie Moggs – Ellen MacArthur Foundation
Kelley Rowe – Brink, South Africa. Chapter member, African Circular Economy Network
Stephany Le Rhun – Principal Engineer on Circularity, Setec, Paris
Cornelia Dinca – Sustainable Amsterdam
Anders Bang Kiertzner – Lendager, Copenhagen
Our panel – First row from left to right: Kelley Rowe, Sophie Moggs. Second row from left to right: Kitty Walker, Anders Bang Kiertzner, Cornelia Dinca. Third row from left to right: Anika Buchmaier, Stephany Le Rhun
Kitty Walker
Kitty is a Facade Engineer at Buro Happold, she started in 2018 after graduating with a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Bristol. Kitty was first involved with the Happold Foundation as a Happold Scholar in 2017 where she did a summer placement in the Facades team following her penultimate year of studying. She has recently moved from being a Happold Foundation Ambassador to a Trustee, leading the Futures Hub.
Her module in ‘Engineering for International Development’ at University helped her form an understanding of global issues and the wider context that informs development engineering, the role that engineers can play in global issues and the Sustainable Development Goals is paramount; from building resilient infrastructure to sustainable energy sources, achieving the SDG targets needs integrated engineering solutions and the Happold Foundation has an opportunity to contribute and bring these conversations to the forefront.
She is also passionate about increasing awareness and making engineering and careers in the built environment more accessible for all, empowering young people, and especially girls, to take ownership of the built environment around them and their future spaces. As an ambassador, Kitty is keen to build the influence of the futures hub ensuring that everyone receives the support to learn and embrace the creative side the engineering, making the future of the industry a more inclusive space.
Anika Buchmaier
Anika is a Sustainability Consultant at Buro Happold, who travelled across the company, working in the Cities Team in Berlin and the Sustainability & Physics Team in London.
As an urban designer and infrastructure manager, Anika is dedicated to shaping urban spaces and implementing innovative solutions to enhance overall livability in cities. Her approach integrates considerations for the climate emergency, emphasizing the urgent need to reduce carbon emissions and create sustainable, resilient urban environments.
Since joining in 2020 Anika worked on national and international sustainability and mobility strategies on different scales and gained experience as a project manager in interdisciplinary projects. As a registered consultant she guides clients throughout the process of green building and district certifications according to the standards of the German Green Building Council (DGNB).
Currently, her focus lies in Circular Economy, Sustainability Strategies and Whole Life Carbon Assessments, aiming to reduce the carbon impact of developments and champion circular building materials. To bring this approach to the wider scale, Anika is also a member of Buro Happold’s urban research programme, Urban C:Lab, in which she is exploring new potentials and opportunities for Circular Cities and the systemic thinking approach.
Anders Bang Kiertzner
Anders Bang Kiertzner is Director at Lendager Architects and has a decade of experience working with strategic design and innovation management. Anders has dedicated his career to maturing and transforming corporate strategy and decision-making with the goal of achieving a more sustainable and circular future.
Lendager Architects is a pioneering Architecture and Design Agency based in Denmark, Iceland and Germany. Pushing the agenda for a more sustainable and circular building sector, Lendager has realized a dozen building based on radical material and business model innovation.
Sophie Moggs
Sophie Moggs is a Policy Analyst at Ellen MacArthur Foundation. She is a graduate of Durham University (England) and the University of Strathclyde (Scotland) with a biology and forensic science background. She recently joined the Policy & Institutions Team within the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, after working in the Fashion team for the past 18 months, switching focus from transitioning to a circular economy from a business to a policy perspective.
Cornelia Dinca
Cornelia Dinca is the International Liaison for Amsterdam Smart City, responsible for connecting international stakeholders to innovation projects in the Amsterdam region, facilitating knowledge transfer and helping kickstart new collaborations. She is also the founder of Sustainable Amsterdam, a consultancy focused on transferring Amsterdam-based approaches for sustainable development internationally through experiential learning. Cornelia holds an MSc in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Amsterdam and a BSc in Chemical Engineering from the University of Calgary. Cornelia previously worked on energy, climate change, sustainable mobility and urbanism projects in Canada and Germany.
Stéphany Le Rhun
Stéphany Le Rhun is an engineer and architect and a graduate of the Ecole Centrale Lille (France) and the Politecnico di Milano (Italy). She worked as a facade engineer 8 years before taking on the role of Global Sustainability Lead at Eckersley O’Callaghan. In 2023, she joined engineering and project management consultancy Setec to focus on circular economy.
Kelley Rowe
Kelley Rowe is Innovation Lead at Brink, where she helps organisations and teams to tackle complex challenges and opportunities with clarity and courage, using the Circular Economy and Exponential Organisation frameworks and principles. She has over 15 years of experience in strategy, innovation, and transformation across various industries and sectors, both in South Africa and globally. She is also a Director and Board Member of Brownie Points, a social enterprise and platform that empowers and celebrates good deeds, and a Chapter Member of the African Circular Economy Network, a non-profit company that promotes a restorative and inclusive African economy. In addition, She is a certified OpenExO Innovation Sprint Coach, Advisor and Consultant, an Ellen MacArthur Foundation Circular Economy Pioneer and Alumni, and a Co-Creator of Women4Impact, a network of women who aspire to make a positive difference in the world.