The wasted city

Traditional cities of the global north are dominated by linear 'take-make-waste' habits: by economic interactions and socio-spatial developments. This is the WASTED City: an urban settlement in which it is difficult to develop circular systems on a mainstream basis. Currently we see the proliferation of urban niches of circularity, progressive policymaking and economic innovation, but the truly CIRCULAR CITY remains Utopian. This book explores how these different approaches are connected and what is needed to make circular urban development the new sustainable standard. Looking at the city as an ecosystem, urban planning, design and architecture practices adapt the built environment in which people interact as organisms within a complex system. We see grand opportunity for planners to reinterpret the landscape and act in a more inclusive, cooperative fashion that propagates sustainable economic activity and vigorous cultural strength.