Schiller, Georg;
Gao, Xiaoxue;
Lanau, Maud;
Blum, Andreas;
Zhang, Ning;
Çıdık, Mustafa Selçuk;
(2025)
How does space matter? On the importance of spatializing
industrial ecology framework for circularity in the built
environment.
Journal of Industrial Ecology
10.1111/jiec.70018.
(In press).
Preview |
Text
J of Industrial Ecology - 2025 - Schiller - How does space matter On the importance of embedding spatialities in.pdf - Published Version Download (468kB) | Preview |
Abstract
This paper explores the critical role of spatiality and scale in industrial ecology (IE) research to promote circularity within the built environment. Traditional IE frameworks are predominantly a-spatial and a-political, overlooking the complex socio-ecological–technological dynamics of urban–regional environments. This gap limits the development of holistic assessments and effective strategies for circularity, often externalizing political, economic, and societal implications. In this paper, we emphasize the need to integrate diverse spatial entities, such as social actors, natural resources, and infrastructure, into IE frameworks. Drawing on recent developments within the IE community (including insights from the ISIE 2023 conference) we demonstrate how multiple spatialities and politics are already integral to several areas of IE research and practice, such as circularity accounting and industrial symbiosis. We highlight how spatial concepts—such as urbanization patterns, geographic features, territory, place, and actor-networks—reveal context-specific drivers and barriers to circular transformation. We then leverage the concept of scales established across spatial sciences to introduce a typology of scales relevant to IE, and identify which scale types have yet to be operationalized in IE research. Given the potential analytical yield of each scale type, we advocate for a reflective multi-scalar approach to incorporate multiple spatialities into IE research. Ultimately, we call for a spatial turn in re-conceptualizing IE tools to support the transformation of the built environment toward circularity.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | How does space matter? On the importance of spatializing industrial ecology framework for circularity in the built environment |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1111/jiec.70018 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1111/jiec.70018 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Journal of Industrial Ecology published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of International Society for Industrial Ecology. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | built environment, circular economy, industrial ecology, material spatiality, scale, social spatiality |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10207243 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
