Toolkit for policy makers: circular economy in the re-industrialisation of urban areas

Cities of Making
Type of organisation or company
Country
Belgium
Netherlands
United Kingdom
City
http://citiesofmaking.com/
Language for original content
Key Area
Project elaborated in partnership
Yes
Scope
Submitted by
University College London Circular Economy Lab (UCL CircEL)
Start/End date
to
Ongoing
Yes
Type of funding
Cities of Making
Description

The delocalisation of manufacturing activities has pushed manual jobs, technical knowledge and industrial innovation capacity out of European cities. Outsourcing manufacturing out of city centres, and Europe generally, has externalised environmental issues while contributing emissions from transportation.

As a response to the economic and environmental challenges, political discourse has called for an ‘Industrial Renaissance’ (EC 2014) and endorsed re-industrialisation initiatives such as the Circular Economy Package and Industry 4.0.

Urban centres play an important role in nurturing new forms of green urban manufacturing, based on a clean, knowledge- and labour-intensive manufacturing sector. The Cities of Making project will combine complementary research on:

a) relevant new smart technologies,
b) physical environments for urban making
c) how public services and other relevant stakeholders can engage in transition strategies.

This will be achieved through applied research and case studies in Brussels, London and Rotterdam.

Main activity field
Main results

The project will be concluded in 2020 with 'city diagnoses' reports for London, Rotterdam and Brussels.

It will provide practical guidelines and resources for public service professionals, aiming to position public services at the centre of re-industrialisation, grounded in academic research and best practices while equipping them with practical and cost-effective tools that can be deployed to revitalise their industrial bases.