Lock-ins are typically seen as barriers to sustainability transitions, particularly in the energy sector, where they can impede the radical changes needed for decarbonization. This study, however, argues that lock-ins can also act as catalysts for innovation within grid operators’ operational practices. Focusing on a Distribution System Operator (DSO) in Central-North Netherlands, the research explores how material, behavioural, and institutional lock-ins influence grid capacity planning for energy transition. Using a qualitative system dynamics methodology, the study reveals how these lock-ins contribute to grid congestion and delayed infrastructure development, but they also create pressure for adaptive change through three key mechanisms: (i) reframing questions, (ii) reorienting synergies between actors, and (iii) rediscovering solutions. These efforts have shifted the organization’s focus from reliability to flexibility, restructured internal operations to manage congestion, and enhanced collaboration with customers, regional authorities, and other energy system actors. However, challenges remain, including the need for a more innovation-driven organizational culture, stronger cooperation between regional and national grid operators, and greater public engagement in congestion management. By framing these findings within the tactical level of sustainability transition management—where strategy meets operations—this study demonstrates how electricity infrastructure can respond to lock-in conditions through adaptive strategies that turn systemic constraints into drivers for innovation, fostering more sustainable and resilient energy systems.

Circularity is often treated as a design principle or strategic ambition to improve resource efficiency, but in practice, many of its claims remain unverified and untraceable. Existing assessment methods typically focus on intended design strategies or modelled impacts, rather than demonstrating real-world outcomes. This paper introduces the concept of evidence-based circularity assessment as an alternative approach for shifting from intention to actionable outcome. Drawing on an analogy of two contrasting ‘circular’ coffee pod systems, it illustrates how the credibility of circularity claims depends on the presence of verifiable evidence, coordinated infrastructure, and traceable processes. Building on these insights, the paper proposes a conceptual framework for assessing circularity, structured around three interdependent elements: proof, process, and persuasion. Finally, the paper explores how these principles can be applied in the built environment, where supporting systems are needed to track, evaluate, and realize circular material flows. The approach aspires to support more transparent, accountable, and adaptive forms of circularity assessment in complex real-world settings.

The political and public interest in issues of inclusion and inclusiveness has grown steadily in recent years. Keeping different segments of society together in the aftermath of a neo-liberal era where much of the social tissue underlying market operations has been eaten up by the prevalence of those same market values is a key concern to many public and private actors. The popularity of the label ‘inclusive city’ can also be observed in its increased use among municipal governments worldwide for city branding purposes and its surge in the academic literature. Its relevance notwithstanding, the meaning of the term ‘inclusive’ is not always clearly defined and often multi-dimensional. In this chapter, a state-of-the art overview will be offered of what is currently known about this city label in the academic literature and look both at journal articles and books in the timeframe 2000–2022. Key finding in this study, which builds on and further develops earlier work is that based on both bibliometric research of academic articles and a systematic review of books, book chapters and grey literature, we find six different dimensions of inclusion (spatial, social, environmental, economic, political and cultural) with their own connotations and associations. Taking this variety into account is essential to a more sophisticated understanding of what developing an inclusive city entails and what variations and variety of developmental paths exist.

Understanding the current status and historical path dependencies of infrastructures is crucial for planning future interventions in sustainability transitions. However, studies that examine the interplay between sustainability transitions and civil infrastructures remain limited. This paper presents a systematic review of 97 empirical studies that analyze how infrastructure systems and sustainability transitions influence one another. Infrastructure is found to play a dual role—as both a structuring force that enables or constrains transitions, and as a domain reshaped by transition processes. The review identifies key knowledge gaps and transdisciplinary opportunities. Firstly, capacity-related challenges—across technical, managerial, institutional, and policy dimensions—emerge as a shared concern and a promising entry point for deeper integration of infrastructure- and transition-oriented perspectives. Notably, the tactical level, where strategic ambitions are translated into infrastructure practices, remains significantly underexplored across the literature. Finally, most studies focus on individual systems, overlooking interdependencies across infrastructures and transitions, highlighting the need for a more networked, cross-sectoral approach.

This conclusion chapter synthesizes the contributions from the preceding chapters to address the central question of how a city can govern its Urban Waste Management System (UWMS) to achieve circularity and inclusion. By integrating insights from diverse perspectives, we highlight the key principles and strategies that enable cities to transition towards more sustainable and inclusive waste management practices. The synthetic UWMS framework introduced earlier in the book serves as a comprehensive tool for understanding the complex dynamics of circularity and inclusion in urban contexts. This chapter discusses the interconnectedness of governance, policy, technology, and community participation, emphasizing that effective UWMS governance requires a multi-layered approach. It concludes with practical recommendations for policymakers and urban planners, outlining pathways for achieving a circular economy while fostering social equity and inclusion within urban waste systems. Ultimately, it calls for an adaptive, collaborative governance model to ensure long-term sustainability and inclusivity in urban waste management.

An ecological metaphor can enable transitions towards regenerative circular economies. Yet, this potential remains latent because its conceptual development, which is a prerequisite for its practical operationalization, is in its incipient phase and largely vague. To strengthen its epistemological underpinning, we propose a forward-looking interdisciplinary research agenda which brings together theories, ontological positions, analytical approaches, and strategies of action from ecological economics, panarchy theory, socio-metabolic research, process ecology, environ network theory, the constructal law, nature-based solutions, complexity economics, doughnut economics, regenerative economics, and ergodicity economics. The agenda facilitates the concentration, consolidation, and acceleration of theoretical and methodological innovation for the generation and accumulation of a diverse yet coherent body of knowledge on the interpretation of the process of regeneration and for illuminating the ways in which regenerative circular economies may function.

The comprehensive sustainability assessment of urban waste management systems (UWMSs) is crucial for understanding the impact of current and future city strategies aimed at improving circularity and inclusion in cities. In this study we propose a framework for conceptualizing the inclusive circular city (ICC), and we review specifically scientific literature on methodological tools and trends in integrated sustainability assessments (ISAs) of UWMSs. Of the 145 publications reviewed, only 10 % concurrently evaluated social, environmental, and economic aspects, and just 2 % incorporated circularity and inclusion metrics. Publications focusing simultaneously either on social and environmental dimensions or economic and environmental dimensions accounted for 3 % and 17 % of studies, respectively, while 70 % adopted a single-dimensional approach. A notable proportion of studies focused exclusively on environmental impact assessment, predominantly employing life cycle assessment or indicators such as carbon footprint. Social assessments were notably less prevalent, comprising only 20 % of studies. Stakeholder engagement and inclusion metrics were considered in 20 % and 5 % of the publications, respectively. In terms of R strategies, 65 % of the studies concentrated on recycling and recovery, targeting mainly municipal solid waste. To advance our knowledge on ISAs of UWMSs and improve our understanding of their embeddedness in ICCs, future research should: (a) focus on multidimensional, transdisciplinary assessments with an emphasis on strong sustainability-oriented methodologies by including circularity and inclusion metrics; (b) prioritize inclusion and active stakeholder participation in collaborative knowledge creation; and (c) shift the focus from conventional waste recycling and recovery to ambitious circular strategies that retain resources in closed-loop systems.

The concept of value has been central to economic thought for centuries; the idea of what makes something valuable shapes how we exchange, produce, invest, and measure well-being. Neoclassical traditions have dominated the contemporary economic framework, privileging financial value as the primary metric of worth. This emphasis on quantifiability, reinforced by positivist methodologies, has marginalised broader considerations of multiple values and incommensurability. Real estate valuation perfectly embodies and exemplifies these tensions. This disjuncture between theory and practice reflects a broader issue within economics: the persistence of an overly narrow understanding of value. In response to these challenges–ranging from sustainability commitments to shifting societal priorities–we turn to a historical narrative of value theories to examine how foundational assumptions about value shape economic thought, resource allocation, and societal priorities. Recent studies point to a growing dissatisfaction with existing valuation models along with a shifting value paradigm: one that increasingly recognises multiple forms of values, the limits of commensurability, and the influence of social and ecological considerations on the practice of appraisal.

The extreme weather events of recent years have highlighted the vulnerability of real estate assets to climate risks and the urgent need to adapt the built environment to the unavoidable impacts of climate change. Institutional investors, as key stakeholders in commercial real estate, play a critical role in this effort. However, little is known about their decision-making behaviours and the processes that drive or hinder investments for climate adaptation measures in existing assets. This paper investigates the decision-making behaviours of institutional real estate investors through the lens of institutional theory, offering a framework to analyse both the rational and the cognitive tendencies that influence climate adaptation investment decisions. Using a qualitative research approach, the study draws on semi-structured interviews with senior managers across the different management levels of institutional real estate investors in the Netherlands. The findings aim to identify and classify the underlying tendencies shaping these decisions into normative, coercive, and mimetic pressures. By doing so, this study will provide valuable insights for industry practitioners to enhance their decision-making practices towards climate adaptation, offer guidance to policymakers on where regulations, policies, and incentives are needed, and contribute to the existing body of literature on real estate investor behaviour in the context of climate change.

Existing assessments of Urban Circular Economy (UCE) initiatives often fail to address the multidimensional nature of urban circularity, particularly regarding social inclusion and stakeholder engagement. To address these limitations this research develops a unified theoretical framework by integrating three existing frameworks, the 9 DB framework (for identifying the development stage of waste and resource management), the 10R ladder (for defining the depth of adopted circular strategies), and the inclusive circular city (ICC) framework (for assessing environmental, social, economic and spatial dimensions, including participatory engagement). The unified framework is applied to the network of Circular Craft Centres (CCCs) in the Netherlands, a bottom-up initiative launched in 2019. The application of the framework reveals that the CCC network promotes the long-term circulation of materials, including textiles, furniture, electronics and plastics, through multi-stakeholder collaboration involving governments, organizations, businesses, citizens and vulnerable groups, with a focus on labour market integration. It also shows that CCCs have the potential to foster sustainability, circularity, and inclusion while underscoring the importance of place-based policies, the diversity of circular strategies implemented, and the active involvement of stakeholders across ICC dimensions. This study contributes to the development of holistic theoretical frameworks for evaluating UCE initiatives and supporting inclusive urban circular transitions.

This chapter provides the background of this book’s topic. It does so by explaining how informal waste picking and urban formal waste infrastructure systems are both relevant to realizing an effective inclusive and circular economy at the urban scale, but that bringing them together does not occur automatically in the policymaking process. It provides a conceptual model that clarifies how the different components of the urban waste management system are connected, clarifies the logic underlying the structuring of the book into the various chapters that follow and then proceeds to present a brief outline of what each of those following chapters will be dealing with.

Cross-domain coordination and nexus thinking are increasingly recognized as vital for addressing complex sustainability challenges in infrastructure systems. Transitions in one infrastructure system often reshape others through socio-technical interactions, revealing critical interdependencies. However, research on these interdependencies during transitions frequently focuses on technological innovation within specific regimes (e.g., renewables in energy) and lacks insights into how strategic ambitions are translated into operational realities. In this study, two different infrastructure regimes, as electricity and drinking water, will be investigated which will explore how the energy and water transitions influence each other by focusing on two Dutch public utility providers to identify cross-learning opportunities. Using the theoretical lens of socio-technical interdependencies and multi-regime interactions, the research investigates the mechanisms behind implementing electrification for renewables and sustainable water management strategies, as well as the common and unique challenges these systems face in achieving their transition goals. Drawing on 23 semi-structured interviews and secondary data, the study employs qualitative system dynamics models to highlight key interdependencies and challenges. The research identifies four critical interaction moments: (1) competition for limited space and resources, (2) symbiosis in aging infrastructure renovation, (3) integration through shared funding and political support, and (4) spill-over effects from grid congestion and social prioritization. By uncovering lock-in mechanisms, interdependencies, and cross-sectoral interactions, the study provides insights into fostering collaboration within infrastructure systems undergoing transitions.

Value drives actions in our modern day economy. In their turn, these actions are the pillars for how well societal transitions are achieved in the long run. In the past decade, we’ve seen governments heavily funding and subsidizing transitions in action to better achieve desperately needed societal targets. Examples are the prevention of climate change, climate transition, and a decrease in resource consumption. However, these significant initiatives are not nearly close to being self-reliant. And with the current retraction of a lot of funds and subsidies on the horizon, the achievement of these transitions has gotten in serious jeopardy. The authors of this abstract posit that these funds and subsidies have not been able to make a significant step forward to successful transitions, mostly because the efforts still focus and rely on the monetary values and motivations and ignore the rest.. It is argued that the introduction of value beyond monetary terms and a way to determine this value is needed. In response, this abstract is intended as the ontological start for developing a summer school, which is part of a recently granted Marie Curie Doctoral Network programme, called QuiVal, where the concept of value is revisited using quantum theory. The summer school under development marks the doctoral network's first educational notes. The aim of the summer school therefore is to stimulate conceptual creativity and critical thinking on the concept of value and offer first clues on how value can be reimagined in practical fields of application surrounding the real estate sector. As preliminary examples to the content of these lecture notes, the authors aim to discuss the implications on value from the position of quantum finance versus classical finance, the potential of these implications to unlock perceptive capability for hard-to-measure value (e.g. social and environmental values) and how it can open up various dimensions of potential value measurements that are important to the multiple transitions in our built environment. To this background summer school, QuiVal aspires to broaden the recognition of non-financial values in industry, government, and research unlocking more sustainable approaches to real estate. For example, by developing models and tools for (non-financial) value measurements we could support decision-making and demonstrate the attractiveness of social and environmental projects better through the research by the doctoral network.

The transition to a circular economy necessitates cities to effectively manage their waste flows by capturing and redirecting them within the municipal domain. Traditional approaches to controlling waste flows have primarily relied on quantitative methods, such as material flow analyses. These methods excel in mapping the quantitative aspects of the materials and visualizing their sequential movements. However, recent advancements have highlighted the significant role of human behavior in shaping waste flows. For example, the way that citizens sort their waste determines the components and calorific value of the flows and directly impacts the circular rerouting challenges within the city. This paper argues that enhancing waste management practices in a circular economy requires analytical tools capable of incorporating the social dimension. Based on this premise, a novel approach termed the Waste Journey is developed and tested using a case study on household renovation waste in the Netherlands. Various methodological options to map the case are discussed and an initial framework for the Waste Journey is then proposed. The study emphasizes the influence of social processes on waste handling and offers a comprehensive means in which these processes can be mapped to effectively address challenges toward zero-waste cities.

Having a high demand for materials and vast emissions, cities are ideal laboratories for exploring the circular economy. The circular city as a city label has attracted a lot of attention from academics and practitioners. However, it remains unclear what a circular city is in the context of the circular economy in the urban environment. To improve our understanding of how circular cities have been defined and developed by scholars, this book chapter reviews academic literature. First, we set a search scope of relevant literature using a bibliometric approach to build a database with 109 peer-reviewed articles. Then, we compile a final list of 28 definitions which are analyzed to find the dimensions of a circular city. These circular city dimensions are: system structure, components, principles, goals, and organizational characteristics. In sum, this chapter provides a comprehensive understanding of the current central themes of circular cities and their shortcomings.

Rapid urbanization in combination with unsustainable production and consumption patterns leads to the generation of substantial amounts of urban waste. The circular economy promises to bring solutions both with top-down and with bottom-up activities. The former relate to the implementation of policies which are based on the waste hierarchy principles by local governments, whereas the latter are about the adoption of circular business models by urban stakeholders. However, a circular economy does not automatically endow cities with inclusion or resilience against shocks. Consequently, any decision which relates to such a transition is not trivial. This chapter presents an integrative framework to assist urban decision makers in considering inclusion and circularity simultaneously when developing urban waste management systems where urban regeneration has a central role. The framework places explicit attention on improving the accessibility of social groups to various forms of capital and stimulating the development of local economies through improved circulation of resources and information within the urban fabric.

Construction activities in the built environment use a vast amount of resources, making the circular economy an attractive paradigm against the linear take-waste-dispose economy to reduce this resource consumption. Within the built environment, this transition encompasses the use of circular strategies across the product life cycle for materials. This entails efforts from multiple stakeholders across the product value chain. In this study we therefore explore how stakeholders engagement can aid the process to arrive at a common understanding of a public sector circular business model (PSCBM) in the case of a circular concrete paver. We conducted a participatory design workshop aimed to design this PSCBM with all relevant stakeholders across the product life cycle were (re)presented. We conclude that the presence of stakeholder perspectives was observed to be necessary in drafting up a PSCBM for a concrete paver, but caution is needed. Outcome-wise stakeholder engagement was necessary to sharpen the dream, indicating stakeholder value propositions, activities required, value trade-offs and to arrive at a relevant set of indicators. Process-wise, stakeholder engagement in this setting was relevant because stakeholders were enabled to share perspectives and challenge each other perspectives accordingly. This leads to the advantage that the practical feasibility of proposed ideas could immediately be challenged. However, outcomes and assumptions should always be cross-validated and updated according to new insights (e.g., relevant outcomes of tests or regulations, latest insights on reuse and recycling innovations). The outcomes are time- and context-bound and very much reliant on the perspectives shared. The findings of this study contribute to our understanding of how stakeholder engagement in a workshop setting, can potentially be useful to strategize about circular products. We conclude that this for example, could help to improve the functional and esthetical requirements for product procurement.

Purpose - Integrating sustainability considerations into valuation practices is essential for promoting sustainable real estate investments. However, a comprehensive understanding of how sustainability factors impact the value of real estate assets is required. This study addresses the growing importance of renewable energy and the underutilized potential of rooftops by proposing an innovative framework for the valuation of roofs when used for renewable energy production.

Design/methodology/approach - This study uses the concepts of residual value analysis and Highest and Best Use methodology, adapting them to create a new framework for rooftop valuation.

Findings - The value of a roof can be determined based on their energy generation capability, where the conditions for enhanced energy harvesting potential distinct a higher value to the host asset. This removes the hurdle for investors to use rooftops for renewable energy investments.

Originality - The novelty of this study lies in using the Highest and Best Use methodology in the valuation of roofs. To the best of our knowledge, no explicit valuation of roofs has been done in the context of renewable energy production.

Practical implications- This study contributes to innovative valuation methodologies by incorporating sustainable measures. Social implications - Social implications include the evaluation of third-party investments in renewable energy on rooftops. This could lead to increased investments and higher renewable energy production, thereby lowering energy costs and enhancing the energy supply's reliability.

Reimagining design as a transformative practice for realizing a circular built environment is both urgent and important. Many of today's resource problems can be traced back to the way constructions are being designed. The adoption of circular design practices may alleviate these problems. Most previous research has either mapped the boundaries of contemporary circular design practices or pushed those boundaries with new interventions. The lived experiences of designers are, however, often overlooked. Little remains known about what it is like to be engaged in and how to ‘live through’ circular design. This study therefore seeks to understand the practice from the perspective of designers themselves. Through applying an interpretative phenomenological analysis to unstructured interview data collected from ten frontrunning Dutch designers, it explores both the what and how of circular design. Four emergent themes were found that illuminate the experience itself. Circular design is, accordingly, interpreted as a practice which: proclaims responsibility towards the Earth, materializes future-oriented solutions, deals with a multi-headed monster, and involves orchestrating a design ecosystem. These themes are illustrated with narrative accounts of designers' actual experiences. The rich, in-depth insights offer ample learning opportunities to better understand and facilitate unfolding circularity transitions. Circular design is, as such, theorized as a vital practice that can shape the built environment through materializing responsible futures.

Urban infrastructure development is one principal way people are transforming the natural world and their living conditions. It is important for humanity, but it can also cause major impacts to the environment, such as huge amounts of solid waste and CO2 emissions. Considering this, the circular economy (CE) is a promising alternative to the traditional “make, use, and dispose” linear economy model. However, as a strategy for sustainable development (SD), the CE is still in its infancy in the urban transport infrastructure sector. Therefore, this article aims to guide the implementation of CE during transport infrastructure projects. To achieve this goal, a literature review and case study were adopted as the research methods. After reviewing existing well-established CE frameworks, the iReSOLVE (implement, Regenerate, Share, Optimize, Loop, Virtualize, Exchange) framework is recognized as the most comprehensive one. Upon it, an analytical framework containing specific-related aspects of CE in urban transport infrastructure projects (which belongs to meso-scale) is proposed (coined as the 4Wh-iReSOLVE framework). The 4Wh means Who, When, Where, and What. The proposed framework offers insight into potential CE activities for transport infrastructure projects and assists in assessing the performance and impacts of CE of these projects to cover the gap of the neglected meso-scale. Ten circular viaduct project initiatives in the Netherlands are used as case analyses with the 4Wh-iReSOLVE framework. The results present the highlights of the circular viaduct initiatives in the Netherlands, with CE activities categorized into five groups (design-related strategies, general CE strategies, implementation, management, and related digital technologies and materials, as well as environmental sustainability). As verified by several experts of the projects studied, it can be concluded that the 4Wh-iReSOLVE framework is suitable for transport infrastructure project CE analyses and implementations. It can potentially be a suggested guideline in future policy documents.