Involving designers and engineers in urban policy-making for assuring policy success and sustainable built environment.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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Policy by its very nature mostly remains abstract and sometimes open to interpretation. Urban policy aspirations related to built environment, have to eventually trickle down from vision to some form of project i.e., to brick-and-mortar level. Such policies also effectively have to reflect in improved quality of life and sustainability parameters like resource optimisation and energy saving, as an outcome. The successful outcome of policy hence depends on whether the policy is closer to ground reality or not.

In the long value chain of city-making affair, usually “urban policymakers” and those who are actually responsible for execution of project i.e., “designers and engineers”, represent two opposite ends of the spectrum. These designers and engineers usually have little say in urban policy formulation related to built environment. This is because the process and information flow in public institutional hierarchy follows similar linear project management model. i.e., top-down; characterised by similar hierarchy and dyadic extremities. Urban policy making though try to represent and incorporate insights from several stakeholders, still essentially remains a top-down process.

First, analysing design project management itself, wondering why design projects for instance tend to overshoot project budget and timeline? Possibly for two main reasons, one in the top down project management process, budget, client negotiation processes, etc. are usually dictated by management higher up or departments/ experts different than planning and engineering (i.e. procurement, financial, legal etc.), who sometimes may or may not be having complete exposure to dynamic day to day design and execution challenges involved in range of built environment projects or may be having limited comprehension of how design and engineering project may get affected in different possible scenarios and in different site context. Hence missing out on critical insights of other bottom extreme of project management value chain, i.e., designers and engineers; while formulating project budget and time frame. The second aspect which may not be directly related to above policy discussion but still noteworthy related to budget and time overshoot is that project management processes like standard operating procedures (SOPs) and tools including many software don’t explicitly factor in real-life challenges and don’t allow to test scenario building, out of scores of possible scenarios which may directly or indirectly impact project. Apparent from the fact that how design projects and project management processes/ software struggled to respond in real time at the onset of the pandemic, despite knowing that the force majeure or Acts-of-God may become a reality at any time; despite having robust industry accepted project management SOPs.

Designers and engineers here imply material experts, product designers, furniture designers, interior designers, architects, building engineering experts (MEP - HVAC/ Electrical/ Plumbing experts), ICT/ intelligent building management experts (IBMS), green building experts, infrastructure experts (Dry/wet utilities), and now emerging circularity experts, who actually design and execute the very constituents or building block or unit of built environment or a city i.e., neighborhood, building/ housing unit or its components, with all its material composition, furnishing, and appliances.

Designers and engineers including project managers, for instance, are those who are usually most close to the reality of execution, having the first-hand understanding of implementation and execution challenges and palpable ground realities. But, urban policy formulation and sometimes strategic report and action plans, related to built environment are traditionally formulated at a level, and with the kind of resources or skilled manpower involved, which may or may not be having the exact or hands-on understanding of sometimes bitter realities of project execution and context. Hence the insight and understanding of designers and engineers are vital for policy making and may simply dictate the success or failure of policy. These critical insights coming from designers and engineers are fundamental to policy formulation as they control the unitary elements of built environment. Any error or innovation at the unitary level has a multiplier effect. If we consider the household or individual house as a constituent unit of the entire population or city, for instance if we save or waste 1 kWh of energy per household, then at a city scale it may result in unimaginable energy saving or energy wastage. Designers and engineers are capable of offering such critical insights, information, modalities, and tools (to save material and energy for instance), which can be directly embedded into the urban policies related to built environment, leading to assured measurable benefits.  

Hence, if we incorporate the insights of designers and engineers in the policy formulation, the outcome of the policy will most likely be tangible, realistic and measurable. The abstractness of policy though is acceptable, but it should not stop policymakers to factor in empirical expertise and insights gathers from the other extreme end of city making value chain, i.e., that which comes from designers and engineers.

Author: Anoop Jha

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please Note, that I am also conducting a FREE 45-minute online individual consultation on your interior design and home decor needs and aspirations if you are in the Netherlands or even internationally. Drop me an email at anoop.jha@gmail.com 

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets 

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional 

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#urbanplanning #townplaning #cityplanning #circulareconomy #projectmanagement #infrastructureplanning #engineering #construction #biobasedmaterial #policy #publicpolicy #governance #Rotterdam #utrecht #Amsterdam #Hague #Netherlands 

 

 

Circular Construction and Infrastructure for Sustainable Cities

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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Cities across the world are facing material constraints and struggling with immense waste generation. As per the report Circle Economy (2023)[1], currently, worldwide material consumption has already surpassed the sustainable threshold of 8 tons per person, by a factor of 1.5 times. Eurostat statistics (2023)[2] indicate 4.8 tons per EU inhabitant waste generated in 2020, of which more than 30 percent went to landfill sites. This article explains the broad evolution and transition of the concept of circular economy from industries to cities and explores the emerging application of #CircularEconomy concepts in the construction and infrastructure sector.

The concept of circular economy has existed for a long period of time, but primarily in an industrial context, like Eco-Industrial Park and Waste to Energy plants. Circular economy principles in the case of industries are usually known as #IndustrialSymbiosis or #IndustrialSynergy and use two approaches i.e., first, the waste of one industry can be used as feed for another industry, and second, industries are co-located based on their compatibility. Waste from one industry like process waste water, slag, petcoke, sludge, packaging waste, scrap material, process heat, etc. can be used by other industries in several forms like cement production, fuel, space heating, composite material, nutrient extraction, etc., and essentially helps keep the material and energy in a closed loop; also stopping waste from going to landfill sites. In Waste to Energy plants, Electricity or Hydrogen is generated through a process called plasma gasification, using waste as raw material including municipal solid waste or agricultural waste like (rice husk, and palm tree waste) or industrial waste (like petcoke) or mix of these. Sometimes waste enrichment is required to achieve the specific calorific value of waste before conversion to energy.

Recently there has been a lot of focus on the application of circular economy principles in urban areas. Application of circular economy in the urban area is usually based on the following principles i.e., either "being resource efficient in construction "or "minimizing waste generation" or "reusing waste" or "keeping the material in the loop for a longer duration" or "high-value use of components at the end of first life" or "through the #SharedEconomy" like the use of Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS). Circular transition in the built environment can be achieved by effective and enhanced reuse of old construction material (through urban mining and use of material passport), use of new circular composite materials (building, pavements, street furniture, etc.), process heat capture (from utilities like from power plants, waste treatment plants and public amenities like an ice rink), generating waste to energy (from municipal solid waste), generating manure and extracting valuable elements from sludge (sewage and wastewater treatment plant), community repair initiatives, etc.

The construction sector in specific utilizes circular economy principals through a multitude of measures like circular buildings construction especially focusing on the reuse of construction material components from redevelopment projects or other decommissioned projects (high-value harvested component usage, deconstruction), use of biobased materials (used in building construction, interior, and finishes), efficiency during the design of buildings using Building Information Modelling (BIM) and Digital Twin, circular procurement of raw construction material, contracting innovation for post life cycle management of the building, etc. While research on the utility of circular economy concepts in building construction has advanced recently, there has been limited research, understanding, and awareness of the use of circular economy principles in the urban infrastructure sector. The circularity in the infrastructure sector can be achieved at several stages including, pre-design, design, procurement, execution, operation and maintenance, and post-life cycle management. The infrastructure sector utilizes several measures to achieve circular transition including intensive reuse of construction material Resource optimization, modular construction elements, use of sensors to predict the remaining functional life of infrastructure and predictive maintenance, process heat capture and reuse, extraction of valuable material from waste and waste to energy, etc.

The use of concepts of circular economy in the construction and infrastructure sector is a novel but promising area and becoming indispensable in achieving self-reliance, sustainability, and resilience in cities. The #Netherlands is at the forefront of #circulartransition and has come up with a national circular economy transition vision [3] that aspires to reduce the use of primary raw materials by half till 2030 and to be completely circular by 2050; many cities like Amsterdam, Rotterdam, etc have come up with their specific measurable goals and circular action plans showing their commitment to circular transition. Continued innovation, a multidisciplinary approach, industry-wide #collaboration, and #knowledgesharing is required for achieving a circular transition in the construction and infrastructure sector.

Author: Anoop Jha

Image: Author

Statistics source:

[1] Circle Economy. (2023). The circularity gap report 2023. Amsterdam: Circle Economy.

[2] Eurostat (online data code: env_wasgen)

[3] Government of the Netherlands

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please Note, that I am also conducting a FREE 45-minute online individual consultation on your interior design and home decor needs and aspirations if you are in the Netherlands or even internationally. Drop me an email at anoop.jha@gmail.com 

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets 

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional 

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#CircularEconomy #IndustrialSymbiosis #IndustrialSynergy #MaterialPassport #UrbanMining #CircularProcurement #ProcessHeatRecovery #WastetoEnergy #MaterialInnovation #BiobasedMaterial #Circulartransition #builtenvironment #urbanplanning #urbanmanagement #Rotterdam #Hague #Utrecht #Netherlands

  

Preconditions and trade-offs of making a great city!

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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Making great city has preconditions like right aspirations, thorough planning, right partnerships, timely resources, among others. Though process seems straightforward but its as organic and uncertain as gamble. That is because there are trade-offs at each level of preconditions mentioned above and many more. For instance there is wide range of choices available at each precondition level. Then there is wide range of possibilities about when these choices were made (early, midway, late, missed), and who made those choices (public, public representatives, internal or external institutions providing aid, or driven by commercial forces). These organic event timeline, and choices made along the way, shapes the outcome called "City". What is interesting to note here is that events (action) are sometimes spontaneous and choices are sometimes based on intuitions.

Following are some of the "trade-offs" witnessed when it comes to making choices, that has potentials to result in great cities if right degree and mix of choices are made at right time.

PRECONDITIONS

(Right choice/ decision is to be found somewhere in between; while process of making choices many a times are more complex than presented below)

"Right aspirations"

a) Top down (by administration) OR bottom up (by community)

b) Vision A, B, OR C

c) Work on weaknesses and threats OR build on Strengths and opportunities

 

"Thorough planning"

a) Redevelop (brownfield) OR build new (greenfield)

b) Alternative A, B OR C

c) External Expertise OR Local knowledge

d) Plan for now OR plan for future OR wait for particular technology/ concept to mature

 

"Right Partnership"

a) Proven partnership OR Potential new partnership

b) Relying on established industry players OR betting on promising newcomers/ startups

c) Comfort of traditional role OR reward and risk of new emergent roles

 

"Timely Resources"

a) Immediate Borrowing OR Strengthening old/ new sources of revenue

b) Invite talent or build competencies

..and more.

It seems that making a great city is more of an art than science; more learning than demonstration. Right choices at right moment makes a great city, and its never too late.

Additionally amidst range of choices and trade-offs, focus must be on core aspects including liveability, climate, equity, economy, circularity and context, we should be closer to making a city great!

Author: Anoop Jha

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please Note, that I am also conducting a FREE 45-minute online individual consultation on your interior design and home decor needs and aspirations if you are in the Netherlands or even internationally. Drop me an email at anoop.jha@gmail.com 

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Page Instagram interior design page @urbantenets 

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional 

My LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anoopjha/

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#urbanplanning #urbandevelopment #urbanmanagement #urbandesign #circulareconomy #smartcity #Amsterdam #Utretch #Hague #Delft #Eindhoven #Rotterdam #Netherlands

How cities may use modular concepts to maximise efficiency, ease and circularity

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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Resource constraint, material scarcity, frequent maintenance needs and multiplicity of stakeholders, require “modularity” to be adopted as “a uniform conceptual model” and a “universal language” for spatial development, urban management and O&M.

Modular by design:

Modularity by design permits infrastructure and built environment to be easily expandable, scalable and replicable. We see application of modular design concepts starting from modular pavement tiles, to modular water and waste water treatment plants, to modular housing units, to modular land and zoning parcels.

While there is already increasing standardisation in terms of industry supplied components (product level); there is still room for modularity in terms of i) creativity (currently limited to individual projects), ii) open-source environment (currently there is asymmetry of information) and iii) statutory obligation (currently it remains mostly optional/ a choice).

Modular for interoperability:

Modularity in terms of interoperability makes built environment components to be easily replaceable and interchangeable. We see the concept in action mostly in terms of maintenance where, “more the level of modularity, faster the maintenance process” (replacing/ swapping of components) e.g.

There is still enough scope for interoperability in terms of modular concept within the built environment, which means built environment increasingly to be designed with replaceable/ swappable components, so that the output of maintenance work should not compromise the integrity of built environment and doesn’t remain just a makeshift arrangement, patchwork or eyesore.

Modular for operations:

Modularity for operations offers agility, elasticity and adjustability. For instance, level of urban services delivery that corresponds to fluctuating daily, diurnal and seasonal demand (adjustment of transport services, traffic regulation, power load management etc).

There is still room for agility in terms of modular operation like system at built environment level that may go to hibernation when not in use (Sensors/ automation/ IBMS), real-time readaptation of spaces (temporal and temporary usage), real-time spatial concertation/ relocation of services matching demand (interoperable office or commercial space/ resource/ energy management based on real-time demand).

Modularity for cognition:

We see modularity in terms of cognition at city scale, like urban way finding signages with a common theme and scheme across city which makes it easier to navigate. As our brain reduces information to smaller, familiar and recognisable modules (symbols, patterns) for easy processing, same is true for city scale modularity in terms of cognitive processing.

Author: Anoop Jha

Image source: Author

[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please Note, that I am also conducting a FREE 45-minute online individual consultation on your interior design and home decor needs and aspirations if you are in the Netherlands or even internationally. Drop me an email at anoop.jha@gmail.com 

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets 

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional 

My LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anoopjha/

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#modular #modulardesign #urbanplanning #builtenvironment #urbandesign #circulareconomy #Netherlands #DenHaag #Hague #Amsterdam #Rotterdam #Leiden #Delft #Eindhoven 

Possible means to expedite circular practices in building construction industry

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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Following may be the possible means to expedite circular practices in building construction industry

On job training:

Urgency of transitioning to circular economy practices is such that, construction industry can’t really wait for handful of new circular experts to graduate in coming decades in the business-as-usual case. For 100X or more increase in skilled manpower in next five years, civil and structural engineers, architects and draftsman are expected to go through on-job training and have a hands-on learning experience through trial and error on real circular building and construction cases, in an experimentative environment, permitted by client.

Removing bidding barrier:

For 10X to 100X participation, both public and private clients are expected to reduce the barrier for new entrants in circular construction business, by allowing firms having no prior demonstrated case of circular building, showing trust in professional competency of architectural firms while keeping some extra time cushion for learning curve. This is possible if client and firm both aspire to adopt and transition to circular economy practices in their vision. Means to delivering circular projects can always be worked out by professionals without compromising on integrity of building structure and aesthetics.

Software patch:

For exponential diffusion and 100X to 1000X adoption of circular architectural practices the most popular and widespread architectural, structural and simulation software like AutoCAD, Revit, Sketch Up, Bentley, 3DMax, Lumion etc. may require to give a huge circular patch upgrade to their software (including software commands and effects, circular element template and 3D library/ warehouse) and training material/ programme, allowing for on-job-learning and training. Construction industry can’t simply rely on new workforce trained (only) on new/ yet to emerge circular architecture/ structure software for its circular transition.

From junk to vintage:

There is a fine line between what is discarded as junk and what is embraced as vintage, creative industry, academia and mass media can always help wider diffusion and faster adoption of harvested material in new building.

Biomass and bio-based industry working together:

As they compete for same biomass-rich feed/ raw material; construction industry must work hand in hand with biomass energy players, to divert biomass for their first usage in construction industry before getting converted into energy.

Author: Anoop Jha

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please Note, that I am also conducting a FREE 45-minute online individual consultation on your interior design and home decor needs and aspirations if you are in the Netherlands or even internationally. Drop me an email at anoop.jha@gmail.com 

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets 

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional 

My LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anoopjha/

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#circulareconomy #circulartransition #construction #architecture #BIM #Netherlands #DenHaag #Hague #Amsterdam #Rotterdam #Leiden #Delft #Eindhoven #dcarbonise #climatechange #urbanplanning #builtenvironment

Effective use of vacant real estate inventory and land use interoperability as an innovative shared economy model.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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The ~2.5% to ~25% of vacancy rate witnessed across world in range of real estate inventories including residential, to offices, to commercial, to hospitality, suggests to have a new business and governance model and calls for emergence of a niche "integrator sector", that is as impactful as real estate and as efficient as shared mobility sector. We see algorithm at work when cab services, rideshare or MaaS make use of technology to match demand and supply to maximise the use of inventory, there is no reason why same logic can’t be applied in the real estate inventory case, except for the self imposed, static and limiting regulations of land use. Making effective use of this last quarter vacant inventory may prove to be the one missing piece of puzzle towards sustainable use of resources and circular economy. Need of this new integrator sector or functionality, either private or public, emerges as traditionally fragmented sectors of real estate and hospitality has been unable to fill this last mile vacancy gap.

Another missing piece of puzzle is the short to medium term interoperability of land use. That basically means, residential demand (rental, student housing etc.) is not necessarily to be fulfilled only by residential land use but may possibly be served by vacant office or commercial spaces as well and visa versa, that further implies revisiting and reinventing the structure, definition and statutory construct of land use, which may choose to allow room for swift, smooth and temporary interoperability i.e. near real time to quick on demand land use changes, which theoretically seems plausible. Land use here may mean a unit, to floor, to facility to altogether a neighbourhood. The only actual time lag that is there, is the time required for remodeling one land use space to another purpose, contractual and operational arrangements. There are great examples across the world where horizontal or vertical or mosaic mixed use spaces coexist in harmony.

What is required, is to have a centralised real-time stock of vacant inventories, stock of upcoming availability based on contract tenure and predicted vacancy modelling, and need of one integrator or consortia of integrators managing same.

City administration individually or collectively at a city, metropolitan or regional level are technically most equipped to bridge this demand supply gap and to do the associated regulatory adjustments as required.

Hoping the next phase of urban digitalisation may be able to solve the puzzle, and reap the benefit of shared economy at urban built environment scale.

Presented as a universally applicable conceptual model.

Author: Anoop Jha

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[Recent update

Starting 2024, launching urban management, interior design, home decor and commissioned artwork services in the Netherlands, serving local as well as international remote clients.

Please Note, that I am also conducting a FREE 45-minute online individual consultation on your interior design and home decor needs and aspirations if you are in the Netherlands or even internationally. Drop me an email at anoop.jha@gmail.com 

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

Instagram interior design page @urbantenets 

Instagram fine art and illustration page @urbanoregional 

My LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anoopjha/

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#urbanplanning #realestate #smartcity #infrastructure #architecture #smartcity #Amsterdam #Utretch #Hague #Delft #Lieden #Eindhoven #Rotterdam #Netherlands #circulareconomy

CITY SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT

 Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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(Need for clear long-term Vision and policy restructuring)

-Those who are factory producing and mass packaging have no plan, linkage or obligation towards ultimate waste handling and minimization.

-Waste minimization and recycling linked Tax saving incentives at all levels from goods producer to consumer to waste generators can see radical reduction in ultimate waste

-In a Dystopian future scenario city gets consumed in its own waste

-In a Utopian future civilisation scenario, humans have to be out of waste handling, segregation, recycling and landfill process!

#wastemanagement #future #landfill #urbanplanning #waste #solidwaste #municipalsolidwaste #msw #commerce #industry

Solution of urban space constraints may possibly lie within existing spaces itself.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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Part of the solution of urban space constraint lies in the shared use of space, infrastructure, amenities and real estate inventory. Problem that is apparently caused by selective temporal and diurnal use of indoor and outdoor spaces and associated opportunity cost of space, and solution that possibly lies in multifunctional use of space.

Decades of inertia in terms of concept of space based on segregation of function, activities and power hierarchy, makes it rather challenging to have a broader discussion on such subject. Only some emerging shared real estate space concepts are being realised here and there.

Starting with space module of residential unit, where there is no universally agreeable standard floor space threshold between the wide range of low income housing to multimillionaire mansions, and if we focus primarily on quality of residential experience instead of floor space area, it is evident that living experience of a compact star category hotel room, possibly having one fourth or one third of typical residential unit floor space area, might be considered far better than average residential unit. (To calibrate, you may think of last time you went on vacation and booked hotel). Which theoretically implies two things, one, that if hotel chains for instance could design and manage residential housing across city, they may offer better living experience in less floor space of residential unit and saved real estate space means better quality of living experience in same or less price; second that they can come up with interoperable residential arrangement and contract, that means while you are away working, travelling or on vacation, someone else can use that space, something in line of timeshare and shared living, but at mass scale, by creating and repurposing residential inventory.

Similarly interoperability of other land use functions can be devised like offices, malls and retail spaces which remains unused for two third to one third of the day. Something like creating or repurposing land use and built-up area for shared working and shared commercial purpose.

Likewise there is immense possibility of multi-functionality in city in terms of shared infrastructure, shared amenities and facilities, which can still also make social, environmental and commercial sense.

We need to slowly move towards thinking of 24x7x365 usage of entire land use categories, making most of every square feet of precious real estate and outdoor spaces in city. This may mean regulatory changes, a new architectural and urban planning approach, real estate business model innovation, lifestyle and societal changes.

Author: Anoop Jha

#realestate #architecture #hotel #circulareconomy #timeshare #coliving #coworking #architecture #smartcity #Amsterdam #Utretch #Hague #Delft #Denbosch #Alkmaar #Noordholland #Northholland #Tilburg #Eindhoven #Rotterdam #Netherlands

Week of Circular Economy 2023 (Week van de Circulaire Economie)

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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As the Week of Circular Economy 2023 (Week van de Circulaire Economie) ended; thought of looking back at own previous attempts to instill circular practices in DIY projects and found a quick experimental interior design installation from archive, that one made way back using bunch of wasted (printed/ unusable) A4 papers. With little creativity
, honeycomb arrangement and some back light it seem to worked well.

Thinking about concept of circular economy in a generic way and looking at cities as being an organic whole, also looking from cultural and economic perspective; with little observation and recollection we realize that circular practices have been part and parcel to many nations, cultures and communities across the world and throughout the history. Sometimes due to cultural influences or sometimes due to economic necessity they seem to apply circular practices by instinct, like being resource efficient, sharing resources and products within large joint families and close-knit community, using products overs generations, innovative use of material, keeping the material and products in loop by changing hands, repurposing etc.

Also, as resources are being increasingly scarce, one of the best things we can do to increase awareness about circular transition in modern city context, practices and products, is to introduce the concept of circular economy in educational curriculum from the very early stage and onwards.

#circulareconomy #architecture #interiordesign #circulartransition #Netherlands #WeekofCircularEconomy #weekvandecirculaireeconomie 

Subtle power dynamics within urban development projects and role of urban management professionals.

Please visit my web page "Urban Tenets" at https://urbantenets.nl/

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What may happen if urban planners and urban management professionals take a step back, stay in steering role and allow subject matter experts to lead a particular planning and development conversation and how sectoral knowledge will shape the conversation? 

If storm water is given focus then urban blue and green infrastructure may dominate the discussion.

When waste is a considered an urgent issue then circular economy will possibly shape the conversation.

When landscape is dominant matter then urban heat island and urban equity may become dominant conversation theme. 

If energy is considered burning issue then energy security and energy transition pathways may shape the outcome. 

And so on, none of the above areas are less import then other. 

Now, even if above scenario may not be possible all the time due to time and other constraints, it only emphasises that urban planners and urban management professionals when leading the projects are supposed to wear multiple hats and to look at urban management and development projects from all of the above perspectives and many more, especially at the inception stage for holistic development. 

Author: Anoop Jha

#urbandevelopment #urbanmanagement #urbanplanning