Circulair denken: The Wasted City

Cities have evolved into complex systems where linearity – we take, we make and we dispose – has made waste an urban standard. This standard is firmly embedded in our modes of operation and cannot be separated from our everyday lives. ‘The Wasted City’ book suggests a new scenario for our urban life: circularity. One that is environmental as much as political, social and economic. A circular city is an urban settlement where your waste is not wasted. In which citizens, rather than technologies, are at the center of attention. What does it take to transform the mindset of a city? How to create systemic change? Joined by academics and practitioners, we take you on an international journey – from the hyper-local to the (inter)national level – to visit various initiatives of circularity and start dialogue-fueled action.

A truly circular city isn’t easy to picture. Perhaps, it’s because our cities are messy, tangled systems of interrelationships that flow between humans and materials shaped by history, culture and technology. Or perhaps it’s because there is no single recipe for circularity.

Boek The Wasted City

By tackling these topics and bringing circularity into a clear view, ‘The Wasted City’ (edited by CITIES) provides an intimate look into remarkable thoughts and actions of today’s circular city making, includes everyone from citizens to politicians. Guiding you through the varied work of city making, it takes you on a vivid odyssey into contemporary visions of circularity.

We all reap the benefits and undergo burdens of the city life, thus ‘The Wasted City’ speaks to everyone. Designed as a tool to kick off a dialogue and action around circular city making, you can use this book to inform, advance, integrate and establish support for circularity – the undeniable common denominator for a systemic change – pole to pole.