ABSTRACT

This paper deals with the territorial dimension of a circular economy. We review the territorial factors shaping closed-loop systems, upon which a territorial definition of a circular economy is developed. We consider six categories of territorial factors: (1) Land-based factors emphasize the significance of physical endowment to satisfy the growing demand of secondary and biotic materials in a circular economy; (2) agglomeration factors are important determinants for a circular economy, as these provide circular businesses with the necessary access to resources, knowledge and collaboration, as well as viable markets; some of these functions are enabled by (3) hard territorial factors, in particular by accessibility and connectivity infrastructures as well as by (4) access to state-of-the-art technologies; softer territorial factors, including (5) knowledge-related factors and (6) governance and institutional arrangements, support collaboration among companies and between them, as well as among consumers and public institutions. Our review shows that agglomeration and land-based factors contribute to define the framework conditions of circular transformations, the harder territorial factors (accessibility and technologies) enable the circular economy in practice, and the softer factors (knowledge, awareness, governance and milieus) contribute to catalyse circular transformations. These findings base and complement research done in the ESPON CIRCTER project.

摘要

本文涉及循环经济的地域维度。我们回顾了形成闭环系统的地域因素，在此基础上制定了循环经济的地域定义。我们考虑六类地域因素：（1）土地因素强调物质禀赋的重要性，以满足循环经济中对二次和生物材料不断增长的需求；(2) 集聚因素是循环经济的重要决定因素，因为它们为循环企业提供了必要的资源、知识和协作以及可行的市场；其中一些功能是由 (3) 硬领土因素实现的，特别是通过可访问性和连通性基础设施以及 (4) 获得最先进的技术；较软的领土因素，包括 (5) 知识相关因素和 (6) 治理和制度安排，支持公司之间、公司之间以及消费者和公共机构之间的合作。我们的审查表明，集聚和土地因素有助于确定循环转型的框架条件，较硬的地域因素（可及性和技术）在实践中促进循环经济，较软的因素（知识、意识、治理和环境）有助于催化循环转化。这些发现基于并补充了 ESPON CIRCTER 项目中所做的研究。我们的审查表明，集聚和土地因素有助于确定循环转型的框架条件，较硬的地域因素（可及性和技术）在实践中促进循环经济，较软的因素（知识、意识、治理和环境）有助于催化循环转化。这些发现基于并补充了 ESPON CIRCTER 项目中所做的研究。我们的审查表明，集聚和土地因素有助于确定循环转型的框架条件，较硬的地域因素（可及性和技术）在实践中促进循环经济，较软的因素（知识、意识、治理和环境）有助于催化循环转化。这些发现基于并补充了 ESPON CIRCTER 项目中所做的研究。