Practices in Urban Circular Economy Transition
A special issue of Urban Science (ISSN 2413-8851). This special issue belongs to the section "Urban Economy and Industry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2027 | Viewed by 79
Special Issue Editors
Interests: construction materials; life cycle assessment; sustainable energy
Interests: machine learning; mineral materials; concrete carbonation
Interests: concrete durability; recycled concrete; low-carbon materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cities are major hubs of material consumption and waste generation, and the urban built environment, especially buildings and infrastructure, locks in large stocks of mineral-based materials such as concrete, masonry, and aggregates. As many cities face renewal, densification, and climate mitigation pressures, construction and demolition waste, secondary material markets, and local recycling capacity are becoming central to how urban sustainability goals are delivered in practice. Moving from linear “build–use–dispose” patterns toward circular strategies requires not only new recycling and reuse technologies for mineral construction materials, but also credible evidence on performance, risks, costs, and environmental outcomes under real urban conditions.
This Special Issue, “Practices in Urban Circular Economy Transition,” aims to advance evidence and methods on how cities implement circular economy practices in the built environment, with an emphasis on mineral construction materials and robust assessment of circular technologies. It welcomes studies that connect technology and practice with urban-scale decision-making, including planning, governance, infrastructure provision, supply chains, and sustainability outcomes. This focus aligns with the journal’s interest in urban development and sustainability research, including empirical and theoretical work supporting more sustainable cities.
We welcome contributions that are grounded in urban or city contexts and that generate transferable insights for urban circular transitions. In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following topics:
- Construction and demolition waste management in cities;
- Concrete and cement circularity, recycled aggregates, recycled fines, and secondary binders;
- Material flow analysis and resource savings accounting for the urban built environment;
- Life cycle assessment, life cycle costing, and integrated sustainability assessment of circular/low-carbon solutions;
- Performance, durability, safety, and standardization of recycled mineral materials;
- Urban circular supply chains, logistics, and industrial symbiosis for construction materials;
- Policy, planning, and governance mechanisms that enable city-scale circular implementation;
- Equity and distributional implications of circular construction strategies in urban neighbourhoods.
I look forward to receiving your contributions.
Prof. Dr. Ning Zhang
Dr. Enming Li
Dr. Bin Xi
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Urban Science is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- urban circular economy
- built environment
- construction and demolition waste
- concrete recycling
- cementitious materials
- material flow analysis
- life cycle assessment
- resource efficiency
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