Interactions between a circular city and other sustainable urban typologies: a review

Abstract

Urban systems play a central role in the transition to the circular economy, and cities' role in consumption makes them essential for sustainable development. The transition to a circular city can help urban centers become consumers of waste and generators of the resources necessary for their maintenance through optimized and prolonged life cycles. In this sense, this article aims to identify the characteristics of a circular city and compare them to other sustainable urban typologies: sustainable city, green city, smart city, resilient city, eco-city, low-carbon city, and city with nature-based solutions. It follows a qualitative approach with a narrative review of the literature in articles from the Scopus database and reports from international organizations. This article demonstrates that a circular city adopts the 10R framework principles of a circular economy by implementing strategies to regenerate, share, optimize, cycle, and replace resources. It also highlights that the study of the methodologies and strategies for transition to a circular city interconnect with all sustainable urban typologies. Thus, the transition to a circular city contributes to urban sustainability in all dimensions.