While more cities adopt a circular economy (CE) model to advance their environmental ambitions, researchers and practitioners have much more to learn about the implementation and impact of CE strategies.
Local governments play a central role in accelerating a CE, as they manage a wide range of local infrastructure and services and can thereby significantly contribute to local sustainability.
To unlock the potential of the CE as a model for establishing more resource-efficient and resilient urban systems, cutting emissions significantly, and facilitating a just and inclusive society, urban policymakers need to: (1) create a shared CE vision with measurable targets and inclusive strategies; (2) establish supportive financial and regulatory instruments; (3) steer collaboration across sectors, stakeholders and governance levels; and (4) enforce evaluation mechanisms to help cities learn from experience and scale up CE practices.
