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A Materials Bank for Circular Leuven: How to Monitor ‘Messy’ Circular City Transition Projects

Author

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  • Julie Marin

    (OSA Research Group Urbanism & Architecture, Department of Architecture, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 1, 3001 Leuven, Belgium)

  • Luc Alaerts

    (Department of Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, 3001 Leuven, Belgium)

  • Karel Van Acker

    (Department of Materials Engineering, KU Leuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 44, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
    Center for Economics and Corporate Sustainability (CEDON), KU Leuven, Warmoesberg 26, 1000 Brussels, Belgium)

Abstract

In recent years, cities have revealed themselves as being prominent actors in the circular economy transition. Besides supporting and initiating urban projects catalyzing circularity, cities are looking for monitoring tools that can make their progress towards circularity visible. Adopting Leuven’s pilot project for a building materials bank as a case study, this paper notes the particular challenges and opportunities in the pilot project to assess its progress and impact, in combination with gathering data for overall circular city monitoring purposes. Firstly, the paper names tensions between the “messy” transition process from policy ambitions to implementation and the question of data and monitoring. Secondly, the paper identifies relevant dimensions and scales to evaluate progress and impacts of a building materials bank, drawing from its development process. Thirdly, it proposes guidelines to monitor and evaluate circular city projects from the bottom up, combining quantitative indicators with guiding questions in a developmental evaluation. The analysis serves a critical reflection, distills lessons learned for projects contributing to circular cities and feeds a few concluding policy recommendations. The case study serves as an example that, in order to move beyond the tensions between circularity monitoring and actual circular city project development, monitoring instruments should simultaneously interact with and feed the circularity transition process. Therefore, dedicated data governance driven by enhanced stakeholder interactions should be inscribed in transition process guidance. Bottom-up projects such as a building materials bank provide opportunities to do this.

Suggested Citation

  • Julie Marin & Luc Alaerts & Karel Van Acker, 2020. "A Materials Bank for Circular Leuven: How to Monitor ‘Messy’ Circular City Transition Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(24), pages 1-23, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:24:p:10351-:d:460341
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Antonia Gravagnuolo & Mariarosaria Angrisano & Luigi Fusco Girard, 2019. "Circular Economy Strategies in Eight Historic Port Cities: Criteria and Indicators Towards a Circular City Assessment Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-24, June.
    2. Nancy M. P. Bocken & Elsa A. Olivetti & Jonathan M. Cullen & José Potting & Reid Lifset, 2017. "Taking the Circularity to the Next Level: A Special Issue on the Circular Economy," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 21(3), pages 476-482, June.
    3. Julie Marin & Bruno De Meulder, 2018. "Interpreting Circularity. Circular City Representations Concealing Transition Drivers," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-24, April.
    4. Korhonen, Jouni & Honkasalo, Antero & Seppälä, Jyri, 2018. "Circular Economy: The Concept and its Limitations," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C), pages 37-46.
    5. António Cavaleiro de Ferreira & Francesco Fuso-Nerini, 2019. "A Framework for Implementing and Tracking Circular Economy in Cities: The Case of Porto," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-23, March.
    6. Daniela Perrotti, 2019. "Evaluating urban metabolism assessment methods and knowledge transfer between scientists and practitioners: A combined framework for supporting practice-relevant research," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 46(8), pages 1458-1479, October.
    7. Donald A. Chapman & Johan Eyckmans & Karel Van Acker, 2020. "Does Car-Sharing Reduce Car-Use? An Impact Evaluation of Car-Sharing in Flanders, Belgium," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-27, October.
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    Cited by:

    1. Rabia Charef, 2022. "Is Circular Economy for the Built Environment a Myth or a Real Opportunity?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(24), pages 1-5, December.
    2. Jennifer Petoskey & Missy Stults & Eileen Naples & Galen Hardy & Alicia Quilici & Cassie Byerly & Amelia Clark & Deja Newton & Elizabeth Santiago & Jack Teener, 2021. "Envisioning a Circular Economy: The Journey of One Mid-Sized Midwestern City," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-18, March.

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