How do smart city principles contribute to the development of circular cities?

Details

Supervisors

Yves De Rongé

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

Urbanization continues to transform cities into dense and dynamic centers, presenting both opportunities and challenges. This thesis explores the integration of circular economy principles into smart city frameworks, focusing on the city of Barcelona, in order to answer the central question: How do smart city principles contribute to the development of circular cities? The first part of the research establishes the theoretical basis, reviewing the two concepts and introducing a new framework that examines the intersection of these two approaches. The second part comprises qualitative empirical research using semi-structured interviews to analyze Barcelona's actions in integrating smart city and circular economy principles. The main findings reveal that the objectives of the smart city have evolved from a technology-centric approach to a holistic people-centric approach, enabling the integration of CE principles. Government-led initiatives in Barcelona focus on the higher levels of CE, while businesses prioritize middle-loop strategies. This distinction highlights the complementary roles of government in defining visions and business in operational innovation. Citizen engagement, transparency, and stakeholder collaboration appear to be key factors in driving the transition to circular cities. The thesis makes significant contributions by introducing a new framework, proposing a definition of circular cities, and providing an example of a successful application in Barcelona.

Citations

• APA

Van Vynckt, C. (2025). How do smart city principles contribute to the development of circular cities?