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international international

Future Cities Need to be Circular,

and Circularity Requires Strong Urban Design Spiro Pollalis
Research Professor of Design Technology and Management
/ Harvard Design School, Harvard University, USA

Alexandre Hedjazi

Senior Lecturer, Institute for Environmental Sciences,
University of Geneva, Switzerland

Gulnara Roll
Secretary to the Committee on Urban Development,
Housing and Land Management, United Nations Economic
Commission for Europe, Geneva, Switzerland

Matteo Tarantino
Lecturer, University of Geneva, Switzerland
inhabitants. Establishing
participatory institutional
structures at city level, Sustainable buildings are another part circulate smoothly and ends up accumulating
setting up collective goals of the equation, when considered as an unused. Instead, smart design, with a long-
to support social and spatial integral component of the city and its term vision, must be applied. Urban data layers
justice, devising measures infrastructure systems, and not just as stand- must be designed to prioritize interoperability,
towards an inclusive and just economy, alone constructs. Sustainable buildings so that all current and future elements of
and promoting environmentally healthy by introducing environmentally friendly the infrastructure can make use of the data.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic ecosystems which support high quality solutions (retrofitting of the shells to lower Moreover, appropriate, coherent data cultures
on urban areas highlighted the importance living environment for inhabitants in cities, energy consumption, etc.), minimize their must be promoted across institutions and civil
of the global sustainability agenda. The are among the key actions to make cities consumption of natural resources and by that society to minimize friction between the data
global environmental degradation and its sustainable. contribute to the higher sustainability of the layer and the human component.
multi-faceted negative externalities are A prerequisite for the city sustainability is whole city infrastructure. The above notions lead us to the concept of
driven by unprecedented greenhouse gas sustainability of the city’s shell, the physical Planning of cities needs to be based upon sustainable circular cities. Since the city’s
emissions, depleting natural resources and and virtual construct that houses all urban sizable, robust data which through analysis and environmental footprint usually exceeds its
biodiversity loss, all compounded by a lack activities. The sustainability of the city’s shell evidence-based decision-making promotes the geographic one, the city usually “imports”
of coordinated planetary efforts to engage all is achieved by a coordinated and synergistic interconnection of the various components natural resources from its hinterland. The
relevant stakeholders in addressing the global approach to planning cities and their integrated of the city. Data enables productive feedback critical objective is to minimize the natural
environmental challenges. networks of sustainable infrastructure systems loops between the components. Almost all resource “imports”, maximize their utilization
While often identified as sources and spaces (including energy and communication grids, elements of urban infrastructure – from and minimize the waste. To attain these goals, it
of environmental degradation, cities can also the transport infrastructure, and the buildings). buildings, to waste management, to transport is necessary to transform the city infrastructure
be part of the solution and important actors Sound integrated city planning can reduce the infrastructures – can now be transformed into from net consumers to net producers of energy
in the transition towards sustainability. Across need for transport, increase the open spaces, data producers with reasonably low investment; and water and biodiversity. - It is essential
the wide range of urban contexts, our urban and provide quality space for living, working, the development of 5G connections also shows to use, reuse and recycle. Cities should be
future is anchored in sustainable retrofitting and entertainment. As such, planning can great promise. However, there are challenges conceived as self-contained systems with
strategies, both for cities which are centuries enable the integration of the infrastructure related to the data processing and use. These integrated infrastructure, including sewage
old as well as for the new cities which are built systems within the city’s fabric. Infrastructures, data layers are all too often left to develop by treatment plants and energy production, and
as smart, circular and sustainable. How can including transport, energy, water, sewage, themselves, juxtaposing and interconnecting with waste and sludge being fed into energy
this be done? food, solid waste, can be made sustainable by ad hoc initiatives by individual urban plants. Cities can optimize their economies
Cities are human-made constructs; they can be coordinating and optimizing their operations, institutions. This spontaneous approach and social structures along the same lines.
planned and designed for better quality of life carefully analyzing the demand, and selecting has financial advantages but, over time, This self-containment and integration strategy
while promoting environmental sustainability. the mode of service delivery enabled by the can lead to big problems. Chiefly, without a needs a transversal and cross-sector approach,
The outcome of cities’ sustainability agendas integrated infrastructure systems within the good design approach, cities end up with an as well as a healthy data layer, which is key to
depends on the active involvement of their city. overwhelming amount of data which cannot any effort to re-design or retrofit cities through

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