Shifting the urban economy from linear to round
The transition to a circular economy and the efficient use of resources in cities are inevitably cooperative. We interviewed two experts, Jaana Pelkonen and Heikki Sorasah, to find out what they think about what needs to be taken into account in meeting the challenges of these cities.
As part of the Erasmus + project, our UrbanGoodCamp Aalto team researched regional urban challenges in the Helsinki metropolitan area. A key part of this study was a series of expert interviews addressing the challenges of the main cities in the metropolitan area. Expert interviews have given us a lot of insight into our current challenges. In this series of articles, we share some of these insights and ideas.
This is the first in a series of four thematic articles that provide insights from expert interviewees and respond to the challenges of cities in the Helsinki region.
Systematic challenges require systematic solutions
Helsinki’s goal is to move away from linearity and create a sustainable city Economic Round. An important idea in the circular economy is to distribute products and materials for as long as possible by reusing the products and recycling the materials used in the new products at the end of the product’s life. The circular economy is also closely linked to the sharing economy and focuses on the efficient use of products rather than owning them, for example by renting and sharing. By reusing materials, you can reduce the need for new products. Helsinki’s long-term goal is to operate in a carbon-neutral circular economy by 2050.
Jaana Pelkonen, the leading expert of the Smart & Clean Foundation, states that the city has excellent ambitious goals and roadmaps for the circular economy and carbon neutrality. Challenge Cities do not accumulate the ability to acquire systematic climate solutions.
“Focusing too much on one solution. Climate challenges are systemic in nature. If you want to solve an energy problem, you have to change the whole energy system, ”says Pelkonen. ..
The rotation sees the value differently
At the heart of the circular economy is the efficient use of the resources at our disposal. Construction is one of the areas where action can be taken to increase resource efficiency. Heikki Sorasahi, a senior expert at the Finnish Ministry of the Environment, said, for example, that the efficient reuse of building materials requires space for overflowing building materials and land. “Adding cyclical requirements to the procurement process is another important tool in meeting the challenges of sustainable development,” he says.
In Construction industryWe are trying to adopt more and more sustainable practices. Helsinki’s goal is to implement a carbon-neutral circular economy in land use and construction by 2035. Measures to achieve this goal include increasing the requirements of the circular economy for the design and commissioning of service buildings and housing. construction project.
While these efforts are promising, the cyclical fluctuations are gradual and lonely, Perconen points out that he does not fully understand the whole range of materials and values he creates. Circular economy solution.
“The lack of quality information and knowledge prevents the emergence of diffusion, which creates points of discontinuity and discontinuity in the circle, optimizing only part of the circle,” he said. say.
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Aalto university
Borrow: The transition of the urban economy from a linear cycle (7 October 2021) 7 October 2021 https://phys.org/news/2021-10-transitioning-urban-economy-linear-circular.html Get
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