Socio-Spatial Dimensions of a Circular Economy

Deutz, Pauline; Jonas, Andrew E.G.; Brullot, Sabrina; Friant, Martin Calisto; Pusz, Małgorzata; Newsholme, Aodhan; Perez, Santiago; Rogers, Heather A.; Thapa, Kaustubh

Abstract

Interest in the transformative potential of a circular economy (CE) has emphasised economic and environmental benefits with relatively little attention paid to how the changes anticipated might be distributed either spatially or socially. This chapter reports on aspects of the Cresting project that have sought to address the socio-spatial dimensions of a CE. It examines how local or place-specific factors are influencing, or are influenced by, the CE, how in turn those factors may be influenced by processes at work at wider scales and assesses the socio-spatial redistribution of benefits across and between scales. Case studies addressed in this chapter comprise neighbourhood-scale CE activities in Hull, UK, Graz, Austria, and Santiago, Chile; city-scale policies in Glasgow, UK, Amsterdam, Netherlands, and Copenhagen, Denmark; policy-driven regional-scale CE in North Humberside, UK, Styria, Austria, and Strasbourg, France; and global-scale implications of European policies in Nigeria and Vietnam. Findings indicate that CE initiatives, whether so named or not, are essentially and irretrievably situated in places and regions. Furthermore, while a CE may be an vital part of local and regional sustainability transformations, any significant social and economy impact needs to be accompanied by larger spatial scale political-economic transformation, which so far is conspicuously absent.

Citation

Deutz, P., Jonas, A. E., Brullot, S., Friant, M. C., Pusz, M., Newsholme, A., Perez, S., Rogers, H. A., & Thapa, K. (2024). Socio-Spatial Dimensions of a Circular Economy. In P. Deutz, W. J. Vermeulen, R. J. Baumgartner, T. B. Ramos, & A. Raggi (Eds.), Circular Economy Realities: Critical Perspectives on Sustainability (123-148). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003295631-6

• Online Publication Date: Jul 30, 2024
• Publication Date: Jul 30, 2024
• Deposit Date: Oct 6, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 5, 2024
• Publisher: Routledge
• Pages: 123-148
• Series Title: Routledge/ISDRS Series in Sustainable Development Research
• Book Title: Circular Economy Realities: Critical Perspectives on Sustainability
• Chapter Number: 6
• ISBN: 9781032281841 ; 9781032281810
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003295631-6
• Public URL: https://hull-repository.worktribe.com/output/4861365