Regenerating Flemish Industry Parks. The built environment as circular economy resource (REFLIP)

Flemish industry parks, mostly dating from the 1960s, require major spatial and infrastructural updates. As construction and demolition waste constitute about one fourth of all waste, integrated circularity transition of these built environments is key. This research examines how built environment transition processes can become (more) circular as a multidimensional ‘wicked’ problem. It mobilizes iterative design, life cycle environmental impact assessment, social impact analysis, operations research, and scenario thinking to bridge complementary disciplines and currently largely disconnected data-levels. The first goal is to coproduce phased quantified future circularity visions and development strategies for two existing Flemish industry parks. Secondly, it aims to generate process frameworks to implement these visions through planning tools and policy interventions in practice. Finally, the research aims to develop quantitative tools that increasingly absorb contextual specificities.

Keywords:circular economy transition, industry parks, Flanders, assessment, design thinking, operations research

Disciplines:Architectural sciences and technology, Sustainable building, Environmental and sustainable planning, Geospatial information systems, Logistics and supply chain management, Operations research and mathematical programming, Urban and regional design