A city of circular economy: advancement of cost-effective methods for resolving conflicts of investment in urban resilience

Abstract

In recent years, losses associated with disasters have increased considerably. Cities are hubs of economic growth, fueling their national economies. The resilience of this growth is at risk, however, from unplanned-for shocks and ongoing stresses, facing increasing environmental, social, and economic challenges. Various literature reviews have revealed the importance of urban resilience, but most have failed to address cost-effective methods for implementing resilience in urban conflicts. Finding new innovative approaches, that are the cheapest and the easiest to implement, to overcome the challenges, are limited. Investors are struggling with a range of obstacles when it comes to investing in resilience. To help in closing the implementation gap, a comprehensive framework of sustainable approaches emphasizing the notion of circular economy is developed across a range of spatial scales throughout its phases of emergency and risk management cycle. The main aim is to enable adaptation and the development of cost-effective solutions in response to future challenges and thus encourage investments in resilient cities. A cost benefit analysis, applied to a hypothetical city, is developed for each innovative approach at different spatial levels. The proposed analysis has proven that innovative approaches are cost effective, as their net economic benefit exceeds their upfront cost. Besides that, they tend to reduce a variety of disaster losses and emphasize the notion of circular economy. In overall, the framework analysis has revealed its ability to act as a protective dome to govern, manage, and finance sustainable low-cost approaches in any new urban formation.