15. Governing Circular Cities: Hoping to meet material needs and limit environmental impacts in urban areas

City regions are the hotspots of economic activity and resource use. Although urban areas occupy only some 3% of the Earth’s surface, they consume nearly 60% of all extracted raw materials, and this demand is estimated to double by 2050 as urbanization continues to proceed (UNEP & IRP, 2018). Here, the circular economy (CE) is a source of hope for meeting the material needs of growing urban populations while limiting environmental impacts caused by growing cities, and thus hundreds of city governments around the world have adopted CE strategies during recent years. The combination of urban development and the promotion of a CE has been conceptualized as circular cities. While acknowledging the essence of new technological innovations in looping resources in urban environments, recent circular city literature has revealed how the CE is shaped by a pronounced technocentric view, downplaying social and environmental sustainability (e.g., Calisto Friant et al., 2023; Bahers & Rutherford, 2024; Toboso-Chavero et al., 2025).

In this session, we examine the various means through which circularity is promoted in urban environments. We invite contributions that explore the roles and relations of different actor groups, including public, private, and third-sector organizations, as well as citizens and local communities. We encourage critical examination of who benefits from dominant circular pathways, whose perspectives and potential may be marginalized, and under what conditions solutions framed under the umbrella of the CE contribute to socially and environmentally sustainable urban development. The session also addresses how stakeholder collaboration, novel models of value creation, governance arrangements, and policy instruments at the city level can foster a more hopeful urban future. Abstracts may address, but are not limited to, the following questions:

• Who has the power to decide how circularity is created and shaped in cities?
• How are stakeholder participation, inclusivity, and legitimization secured in promoting urban circularity?
• What are the effective modes of governance, policy instruments, or administrative structures for promoting circular cities?
• How is urban circularity promoted through novel business models and other forms of value creation?
• How can urban inhabitants be engaged in circular consumption and everyday practices?

The session is open to contributions at different stages of the research process and encourages the presentation of work in progress to support collective reflection and dialogue.

Abstracts in English or Finnish.

Bahers, J.-B., & Rutherford, J. (2024). Urban infrastructures, metabolic resource flows and the contradictions of circular economy ‘solutions’ in Nantes and Gothenburg. Urban Studies, 00420980241286750. https://doi.org/10.1177/00420980241286750

Calisto Friant, M., Reid, K., Boesler, P., Vermeulen, W. J. V., & Salomone, R. (2023). Sustainable circular cities? Analysing urban circular economy policies in Amsterdam, Glasgow, and Copenhagen. Local Environment, 28(10), 1331–1369. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2023.2206643

Toboso-Chavero, S., Zisopoulos, F. K., De Jong, M., & Schraven, D. (2025). Critical review of methodological tools and trends for assessing the performance of inclusive circular cities. Cleaner Environmental Systems, 17, 100275. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cesys.2025.100275

United Nations Environment Programme & International Resource Panel. (2018). The weight of cities resource requirements of future urbanization – Summary for policymakers. https://wedocs.unep.org/20.500.11822/31624