Contemporary cities typically employ a linear metabolic model which relies on peripheral areas to support their growth and operation, often externalising waste and degradation to economically and ecologically vulnerable areas. Posing the hypothetical question, ‘What if the existing metabolic processes of extraction, production and disposal in Madrid’s periphery could be rethought, and a socially, economically and ecologically productive process could be instated for peripheral communities?’, this paper constructs a theoretical framework with which to understand systems of waste and inequality embedded in the city’s growth and operation, and analyses the historical patterns of growth which proliferated them. Following this understanding, contemporary problematic symptoms emerging from these patterns are identified, and a set of good practices is compiled which may effectively address them. This project takes a critical stance on the tabula rasa form of urban redevelopment commonly employed in Madrid and posits that an alternative model of urban development should be estalished, one which embraces plurality and uses existing built fabric and social, ecological and economic processes as a starting point