CUE Topic 3: Rethinking urban production for circular and resilient cities

In the transition to circular urban economies, cities can reinvent themselves not only as consumers of goods but also as sustainable producers. Urban production activities, ranging from local food cultivation and repair workshops to small-scale manufacturing, makerspaces and creative industries, can significantly shorten value chains and keep resources circulating locally. By localising production, cities can reduce the environmental footprint of goods (through lower transport emissions and less waste) and strengthen community resilience with local jobs, skills and enterprises. Such approaches can also foster economic inclusion by creating opportunities for diverse groups within the urban population. 

However, most cities today are not structured to support production: industrial activities have often been zoned to the periphery or entirely outside city boundaries, and urban plans and infrastructure typically prioritise housing and services over manufacturing or agriculture. There is an urgent need for novel strategies and governance to embed production back into urban systems in a sustainable, low-impact way. This means allocating space and facilities for production (from rooftops and brownfields for urban farming to shared workshops for repair and fabrication), enabling the use of urban waste streams as raw materials for new products, and updating policies that currently hinder circular local enterprise (for example, regulations on reuse or permitting of craft industries). 

Recent global supply chain disruptions and EU policy initiatives (such as the Circular Economy Action Plan and emerging “right to repair” regulations) highlight the importance of rebuilding localised, circular production capabilities. By rethinking urban production, cities can increase their self-sufficiency, reduce environmental impacts, and improve social cohesion and innovation. This topic calls for creative, systemic approaches to integrate production into the urban fabric as a key driver of circularity and resilience.

Project proposals submitted under this topic should address one or several of the following questions:

• How can different forms of local urban production (e.g. urban farming, repair cafés and makerspaces, small-scale manufacturing, or creative upcycling industries) be successfully integrated into city environments to strengthen circular resource flows and shorten supply chains?
• What strategies and infrastructure are needed for cities to accommodate production activities in a sustainable, low-emission way, for instance, through innovative urban design, multi-use zones, or new technologies, while maintaining a high quality of life for residents?
• How can urban waste and resource streams (such as recyclables, organic waste, waste heat or water) be harnessed as inputs for local production, and what circular business models can turn one sector’s waste into another sector’s raw material?
• In what ways can expanding urban production contribute to community resilience and social inclusion, and what governance or support mechanisms (municipal programs, cooperative models, skill-building initiatives, etc.) are needed to maximise these social benefits?
• What policy and regulatory innovations at the city level could enable and encourage sustainable urban production (for example, updates to zoning/permitting, incentives for circular businesses, public procurement supporting local products, or public-private collaboration frameworks)?

Rather than focusing on isolated technical solutions, projects are expected to address this topic in a systemic way. Project outputs should be impact-oriented and process-oriented, and therefore as concrete and user-centred as possible. Expected outputs include, but are not limited to:

• Frameworks or models for creating circular production hubs or networks in cities, linking local producers with consumers and recycling/waste management to enable circular resource loops.
• New spatial planning guidelines or tools that help city planners designate and integrate spaces for production (workshops, urban farms, repair centers) within dense urban areas in a livable and sustainable manner.
• Platforms, tools or pilot demonstrations that facilitate resource sharing and collaboration among urban producers – for example, digital marketplaces for exchanging secondary materials, or shared physical facilities for fabrication and repair.
• Policy recommendations and governance innovations (such as model municipal policies, incentive programs or partnership templates) for city authorities to support circular local production and “make & repair” economies.
• Evidence-based assessments (case studies, metrics, impact evaluations) of how urban production initiatives affect environmental outcomes (e.g. waste reduction, emissions savings) and socio-economic outcomes (e.g. job creation, community wellbeing), providing knowledge to guide future urban strategies.