As cities worldwide implement strategies to accelerate the transition toward a circular economy (CE), there is an increasing need for tools to monitor progress. However, a standardised metric for CE monitoring in urban areas is lacking. This study examines the potential of the EU Circular Economy Monitoring Framework (CEMF), an established indicator-based framework for measuring national- and EU-level circularity performance, as a monitoring tool for urban areas. For this purpose, available data sources that can support the framework's application at the urban level are mapped, and data quality is assessed following the pedigree matrix approach. Next, the CEMF indicators are computed for the urban area of Umeå, Sweden. The mapping showed limited availability of urban-level data, necessitating the downscaling of national-level data using proxy factors. Most available urban-level data are of high quality, while the quality of national-level data is reduced when used to compute indicators at the urban level. The application of the CEMF in Umeå indicates that there are areas where the municipality performs well, though further improvements are needed. We conclude that the CEMF has potential as a monitoring tool for urban areas. However, improvements in CEMF...s scope and data availability are recommended.

Worldwide, cities are implementing circular economy (CE) strategies to reduce the resources they consume and their environmental impact. However, the evidence of the intended and unintended social consequences of the transition to “circular cities” is scattered. The lack of a coherent overview of the evidence on the subject can hinder effective decision-making in policy and practice. This study examines the extent to which the current literature addresses the social impacts that a transition to a CE produces in cities. We used a methodological approach related to systematic mapping to collate the evidence published over the past decade globally. The study finds that social impacts have rarely been considered in studies of circular cities, and where they have been discussed, the scope has been quite limited, only covering employment (mostly of informal sector workers) and governance practices. This scoping review highlights the need to further analyse and integrate social impact considerations into decision-making connected to transitions towards circular cities.

Worldwide, cities are implementing circular economy (CE) strategies to reduce the resources they consume and their environmental impact. To understand the CE strategies and sectors cities have been focusing on, we have conducted an evidence map describing the literature published in the last ten years. The main outputs are a searchable database comprising 178 publications showing which cities have been discussed, what CE strategy they are focusing on, and the sectors under review. The results show that most research has focused on European countries. Those efforts mainly concentrate on waste and wastewater management, and recycling and recovery strategies are considered the “lower-level” strategies in the CE taxonomy. It highlights the potential for further research in other cities and regions, looking across sectors and analyzing strategies that tackle the “higher-level” CE strategies. Higher-level strategies include reducing, repurposing, remanufacturing and reusing opportunities to achieve the potential attributed to a CE model by governments across the world.

The circular economy (CE) model, where resources are kept "in the loop" for as long as possible through a series of reusing, remanufacturing, recycling, and recovery strategies, has been acclaimed for reducing the environmental impacts of our current economic model substantially and has therefore been supported by a wide range of policymakers as one solution to tackling climate change. However, how circular transitions in cities impact people has been rarely researched, and even less attention has been paid to the negative consequences of CE transitions.

This paper presents the findings from a social impact assessment conducted in the city of Umeå, Sweden. We identified several negative impacts of a CE transition across seven social impact categories and explored three areas in depth with stakeholders in the city: employment, access to services and participation. We found that the negative impacts of the CE are perceived to be limited and that the CE interventions are mainly viewed as a win-win-win outcome, i.e., a win for the environment, the economy and people. This raises questions about the level to which societal consequences have been considered and whether all relevant stakeholders, in particular civil society, have participated in the design of the city's CE strategy. Our findings can inform other cities about possible negative consequences of CE transitions and provide insights into how to incorporate different stakeholders in the CE transition process to ensure that no one is left behind.