As urban density increases and cities expand, there is a decrease in urban livability, which is closely linked to social, economic, and environmental crises. To address these negative impacts, biophilic urbanism (BU) promotes human–nature interactions and their associated benefits. However, knowledge gaps remain regarding its effectiveness across different scales. This study explores how BU contributes to improving livability in the built environment and to renewing urban landscapes. Using Amsterdam as a case study, we first identified biophilic experiences by analyzing them through quantitative, qualitative, and spatial distribution metrics. We then investigated designs that foster biophilia by applying BU tools aimed at enhancing interspecies connections and leveraging ecosystem services. Our findings, in the form of maps, provide evidence-based insights to benefit everyday life using nature in settings at different scales, along with design solutions to renew urban planning, focus on human and environmental well-being, and involve citizens in spatial transformations and maintenance processes. Finally, we advocate for BU as a holistic model that uses natural capital as a key strategy for making cities more equitable, sustainable, and resilient.

An increasing number of studies suggest that biophilia encompasses benefits resulting from human–nature interactions. However, quantifying these effects remains challenging. Since natural features vary worldwide, this study explores whether people perceive biophilia universally or if it is influenced by local or geographical conditions. To this end, we quantify, qualify, and map biophilic perceptions (BP) across terrestrial biomes. We first surveyed 400 people in eight cities to identify urban features evoking more positive feelings via Google Street View imagery. Thereafter, survey outcomes were used to calculate specific metrics (coverage, diversity, distribution, intensity, specificity) aimed at measuring BP using a machine-learning model to detect 25 visual biophilic classes (BC). We found that people yield greater benefits from eye contact with nature-based elements within the cityscape unanimously, regardless of biome or gender. We provide AI-driven measurement tools applicable to any city globally to foster understanding and the enhancement of biophilic experiences.

In recent decades, the increasing frequency, intensity, and duration of heatwaves generated by climate change has posed significant challenges to public health, particularly in urban areas. Despite extensive research on the impacts of heatwaves on human health, there is still a need for enhanced understanding of how, and to what extent, the spatial attributes of urban environments exacerbate these effects at the very local scale. This research addresses this gap and emphasises the importance of analysing the relationship among urban form, climate and health through high resolution geo-spatial data. By investigating the spatial correlations between geolocated cardiovascular and respiratory emergency calls, the modelled universal thermal climate index (UTCI) and selected socio-demographic factors during the summer of 2022 in Milan, this study aims to enhance our understanding of the complex interaction among heat, the built environment, and specific health outcomes. The findings identify geographical locations where emergency calls occur more frequently and where health concerns emerge during hot spells. Morphological and socio-demographic factors both play a critical role in determining vulnerability to heat stress. The results provide valuable insights for identifying high-risk areas, where tailored interventions in terms of planning, governance and urban design may be implemented to address heat-resilience and health-equity in cities.

Introduction: In recent decades, there has been a rise in mental illnesses. Community infrastructures are increasingly acknowledged as important for sustaining good mental health. Moreover, green spaces are anticipated to offer advantages for both mental health and social cohesion. However, the mediating pathway between green space, social cohesion and mental health and especially the proximity and characteristics of green spaces that trigger these potential effects remain of interest. Methods: We gathered data from 1365 individuals on self-reported social cohesion and mental health across four satellite districts in European cities: Nantes (France), Porto (Portugal), Sofia (Bulgaria), and Høje-Taastrup (Denmark). Green space data from OpenStreetMap was manually adjusted using the PRIGSHARE guidelines. We used the AID-PRIGSHARE tool to generate 7 indicators about green space characteristics measured in distances from 100–1500 m, every 100 m. This resulted in 105 different green space variables that we tested in a single mediation model with structural equation modelling. Results: Accessible greenness (900–1400 m), accessible green spaces (900–1500 m), accessible green space corridors (300–800 m), accessible total green space (300−800), and mix of green space uses (700–1100 m) were significantly associated with social cohesion and indirectly with mental health. Green corridors also showed negative indirect and direct associations with mental health in larger distances. Surrounding greenness and the quantity of green space uses were not associated with social cohesion nor indirectly with mental health. We also observed no positive direct associations between any green space variable in any distance to mental health. Conclusions: Our results suggest that accessibility, connectivity, mix of use and proximity are key characteristics that drive the relationship between green spaces, social cohesion and mental health. This gives further guidance to urban planners and decision-makers on how to design urban green spaces to foster social cohesion and improve mental health.

Implementing a circular economy in cities has been proposed by policy makers as a potential solution for achieving sustainability in the construction sector. One strategy that has gained interest by both policy makers and companies is to develop “circular construction hubs”: locations that collect, store, and redistribute waste as secondary resources. However, there is limited literature taking a spatially explicit view, identifying the spatial parameters that could affect the locations of hubs both for now and in the future. This study therefore aims to categorize different types of circular hubs for the construction industry, collect spatial parameters required for finding suitable locations for each type of circular hub, and translate the spatial parameters into a list of data and spatial analysis methods that could be used to identify potential future locations. The study used the Netherlands as a case study, extracting spatial parameters from two sources: Dutch governmental policy documents on circular economy and spatial development and interviews with companies operating circular hubs. Four types of circular construction hubs were identified: urban mining hubs, industry hubs, local material banks, and craft centers. The spatial parameters were extracted for each type of hub from four perspectives: resources (such as material type, business model), accessibility (such as mode and scale of transportation), land use (such as plot size, land use), and socio-economic (such as labor availability). The parameters were then translated into a list of spatial data and analysis methods required to identify future locations of circular construction hubs.

Exploring the influence of green space characteristics and proximity on health via air pollution mitigation, our study analysed data from 1,365 participants across Porto, Nantes, Sofia, and Høje-Taastrup. Utilizing OpenStreetMap and the AID-PRIGSHARE tool, we generated nine green space indicators around residential addresses at 15 distances, ranging from 100m to 1500m. We performed a mediation analysis for these 135 green space variables and revealed significant associations between self-rated air pollution and self-rated health for specific green space characteristics. In our study, indirect positive effects on health via air pollution were mainly associated with green corridors in intermediate Euclidean distances (800-1,000m) and the amount of accessible green spaces in larger network distances (1,400–1,500m). Our results suggest that the amount of connected green spaces measured in intermediate surroundings seems to be a prime green space characteristic that could drive the air pollution mitigation pathway to health.

More than 20% of global carbon emissions are linked with the production of construction materials used in the built environment. The use of bio-materials along with urban densification strategies that avoid demolition and reduce material demand, have been recommended to achieve urban sustainability goals. Addressing these measures, this study compares the life cycle embodied carbon emissions of seven hybrid top-up structural systems composed of concrete, steel and advanced engineered timber products made out of softwood and hardwood species. The life cycle carbon emissions (expressed in kgCO2-eq) were estimated following a cradle-to-grave approach, with a functional unit equivalent to 1 m2 of top-up structural system and focusing on The Netherlands and the city of Amsterdam as main geographical scope. A statistical analysis was included to account for the potential variation of emissions across each life cycle stage, using Monte Carlo simulations for random sampling. The results indicate that predominantly bio-based structures present a staggering 60% lower embodied carbon emissions compared with predominantly concrete, steel and modestly hybrid systems. Preserving the long-term carbon storage capacity of timber elements through high-quality reuse can offset 30–60% of the total positive emissions of the predominantly bio-based systems. Up to 6MtCO2-eq of the national carbon budget in The Netherlands can be saved from a radical uptake of bio-based structures in Amsterdam by 2050. Diversification of material diets with bio-based alternatives is recommended, along with established policy that can guarantee sustainable sourcing and prolonged lifespans through high-end reuse practices.

Introduction: Non-communicable diseases are the global disease burden of our time, with physical inactivity identified as one major risk factor. Green spaces are associated with increased physical activity of nearby residents. But there are still gaps in understanding which proximity and what characteristics of green spaces can trigger physical activity. This study aims to unveil these differences with a rigorous sensitivity analysis. Methods: We gathered data on self-reported health and physical activity from 1365 participants in selected neighbourhoods in Porto, Nantes, Sofia, and Høje-Taastrup. Spatial data were retrieved from OpenStreetMap. We followed the PRIGSHARE guidelines to control for bias. Around the residential addresses, we generated seven different green space indicators for 15 distances (100–1500 m) using the AID-PRIGSHARE tool. We then analysed each of these 105 green space indicators together with physical activity and health in 105 adjusted structural equation models. Results: Green space accessibility and green space uses indicators showed a pattern of significant positive associations to physical activity and indirect to health at distances of 1100 m or less, with a peak at 600 m for most indicators. Greenness in close proximity (100 m) had significant positive effects on physical activity and indirect effects on health. Surrounding greenness showed positive direct effects on health at 500–1100 m and so do green corridors in 800 m network distance. In contrast, a high quantity of green space uses, and surrounding greenness measured in a larger radius (1100–1500 m) showed a negative relationship with physical activity and indirect health effects. Conclusions: Our results provide insight into how green space characteristics can influence health at different scales, with important implications for urban planners on how to integrate accessible green spaces into urban structures and public health decision-makers on the ability of green spaces to combat physical inactivity.

Challenges and potential are embedded in peri-urban agriculture under metropolitan sprawl, which requires a future-oriented development to address major trends such as the climate crisis, metropolitan sprawl, autonomy in food production and environmental quality issues. Following a design exploration in Oosterwold, Almere, The Netherlands, a biophilic design framework was used to demonstrate the effective transformation of a symbiotic peri-urban agricultural interface. The results embody a sequence of principles based upon biophilic design, urban metabolism, and bottom-up governance mechanism.

In the interdisciplinary field of green space health research, there is a demand to reduce the effort to assess green space, especially for non-spatial disciplines. To address this issue, we developed AID-PRIGSHARE, an open-source script that automates over 400 QGIS processes to substantially reduces the time-intensive task of generating green space indicators. AID-PRIGSHARE calculates greenness, public green space, access to green infrastructure, and green space uses within distances of 100–1500 m around geolocations. This substantially reduces the effort for sensitivity analysis and may provide support for research that aims to understand the impact of different green space features and distances on health outcomes.

This paper discusses a novel, compact sound absorption solution with high performance at various frequencies, including low frequencies, achieved through the effective use of Computational Design and Additive Manufacturing (AM). Sound absorption is widely applied for reducing noise and improving room acoustics; however, it is often constrained by conventional design, material properties and production techniques, which offer limited options for customising performance. This research highlights that AM, in combination with computational design tools, can support the development of novel sound-absorbing products with high performance based on the principle of viscothermal wave propagation in prismatic tubes. The potential of these designs was explored via two studies of customised sound-absorbing panels whose performance was measured in a reverberation room. A custom measurement technique was used based on logarithmic sweeps with high-resolution FFT analysis. A comparison of the measurement results with the theory of viscothermal wave propagation indicated good agreement; thus, this study demonstrates the possibility of developing new concepts and design methods for novel room acoustic devices.

With circular economy being high on governmental agendas, there is an increasing request from governing bodies for circularity measurements. Yet, currently existing macro-level monitoring frameworks are widely criticized for not being able to inform the decision-making. The criticism includes, among others, a lack of consensus on terminologies and definitions among scholars, politicians, and practitioners, a lack of supporting data and tools and, consequently, a lack of transparency and trustworthiness. To address those needs, a bottom-up approach to build a shared terminology is suggested as a starting point for monitoring development. The government, data providers, and tool developers are involved in the process of formal ontology development and alignment. The experiment builds upon a use case of the Amsterdam Circular Economy Monitor (2020). First, four ontology development approaches are used to create a theory-centered, a user-centered, a tool-centered, and a data-centered ontology. The ontologies are later compared, merged, and aligned to arrive at one single ontology which forms the basis of the circular economy monitor. The notes taken during the process have revealed that next to a material flow model, typical of socioeconomic metabolism analysis, policy makers are concerned with actors (i.e., institutions, companies, or groups of people) who participate in the analyzed processes and services. Furthermore, a number of terms used by the decision-makers lack clear definitions and references to be directly associated with the available data. Finally, a structured terminology alignment process between monitor users, developers, and data providers helps in exposing terminology conflicts and ambiguities.

The relationship between green spaces and health is attracting more and more societal and research interest. The research field is however still suffering from its differing monodisciplinary origins. Now in a multidisciplinary environment on its way to a truly interdisciplinary field, there is a need for a common understanding, precision in green space indicators, and coherent assessment of the complexity of daily living environments. In several reviews, common protocols and open-source scripts are considered a high priority to advance the field. Realizing these issues, we developed PRIGSHARE (Preferred Reporting Items in Greenspace Health Research). It is accompanied by an open-source script that supports non-spatial disciplines in assessing greenness and green space on different scales and types. The PRIGSHARE checklist contains 21 items that have been identified as a risk of bias and are necessary for understanding and comparison of studies. The checklist is divided into the following topics: objectives (3 items), scope (3 items), spatial assessment (7 items), vegetation assessment (4 items), and context assessment (4 items). For each item, we include a pathway-specific (if relevant) rationale and explanation. The PRIGSHARE guiding principles should be helpful to support a high-quality assessment and synchronize the studies in the field while acknowledging the diversity of study designs.

Implementing a circular economy in cities has been proposed by policy makers as a potential solution for achieving sustainability in the construction sector. One strategy that has gained interest by both policy makers and companies is to develop ‘circular construction hubs’: locations that collect, store, and redistribute waste as secondary resources. However, there is limited literature taking a spatially explicit view, identifying the spatial parameters that could affect the locations of hubs both for now and in the future. This study therefore aims to categorize different types of circular hubs for the construction industry, collect spatial parameters required for finding suitable locations for each type of circular hub, and translate the spatial parameters into a list of data and spatial analysis methods that could be used to identify potential future locations. The study used the Netherlands as a case study, extracting spatial parameters from two sources: Dutch governmental policy documents on circular economy and spatial development, and interviews with companies operating circular hubs. Four types of circular construction hubs were identified: urban mining hubs, industry hubs, local material banks, and craft centers. The spatial parameters were extracted for each type of hub from four perspectives: resources (such as material type, business model), accessibility (such as mode and scale of transportation), land use (such as plot size, land use), and socio-economic (such as labor availability). The parameters were then translated into a list of spatial data and analysis methods required to identify future locations of circular construction hubs.

Cities are the core of social interactions and resource consumption in our current times. However, urban systems are still largely based on linear activities in which resources are discarded after usage. Current practices around waste reduce possibilities of circularity, mainly due to low percentages of sorting and recycling practices in high- and middle-income countries and landfill practices in middle- and low-income countries. This resulted in a continuous increase in urban waste and negative environmental impact over the last decades. The development of circular practices and innovations, such as additive manufacturing, is crucial to modify the current supply chain and return valuable discarded materials to urban industries. Additive manufacturing is a novel technology based on the creation of objects layer by layer involving the use of a diverse range of materials. Several materials such as plastics, metal or concrete, for example, can be transformed into functional products for cities. Based on a literature review, this paper showcases the potential of urban waste for 3D printing with a main focus on recycling practices at the end of the supply chain. This paper aims to examine the current knowledge, regulations, and practices in circularity and additive manufacturing in the urban context, to identify opportunities and practices for material recovery applications, and showcase applications for additive manufacturing at the last stage of the supply chain. Furthermore, it identifies the needs for further research that could support the implementation and diffusion of additive manufacturing in society.

In response to socio-ecological challenges, cities around the world are implementing greenification and urban forestry. While these strategies contribute to reducing the ecological footprint, they often overlook various social implications. This explains the increasing global attention to Biophilia, which emphasizes human–nature interaction to enhance the quality of urban life. Despite its historical roots spanning centuries, Biophilia is still considered an emerging research field, as shown by debate on evidence-based research and measurement of its multidimensional impacts. Although the beneficial effects of Biophilic Design (BD) are well documented thanks to the small-scale and immediate outcomes, the long-term potential of Biophilic Urbanism (BU) offers less evidence, limiting its utilization and investment. This paper provides a comprehensive theoretical-practical framework on Biophilia, BD, and BU through a 60-year systematic literature review based on a three-metric approach (quality, quantity, and application). Investigating concepts and practices, we delve into biophilic effects on humans and urban livability, analyze tools to measure them, and explore methods to translate them into the built environment. In spite of the growing body of studies and advancements in the last decade, our review findings highlight the need for further insights, especially regarding BU. The study aims to promote Biophilia Upscaling as a strategy to maximize its direct and indirect benefits across urban scales, thereby promoting BU and expediting a paradigm shift in city planning. In metropolises conceived as bioregional systems, where nature plays a key role in ensuring ecological services and citizens’ well-being, BU can assist designers, planners, and city makers in addressing the urban agenda toward higher environmental and social standards.

In this chapter, the understanding of circularity goes beyond material resource management, deepening the spatial implications of a more circular management and use of wastescapes, investigated at the urban and metropolitan scale. Besides the health (care) related challenges presented by the current outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, additional ones related to our living environment have been—and will continue to be—an urgent call for academic researchers, designers and policymakers to find (eco)innovative solutions and strategies for enhancing the quality of life of all and the availability of more and more safe public (open) spaces and facilities to sustain this. In this situation, the spaces most at risk of urban and peri-urban areas could be found in the unresolved places which are defined as wastescapes, since they are in general still poorly used and valued. Building on the European H2020 research project REPAiR, the definition of wastescapes, provided in this study, builds upon work for two main cases: the metropolitan areas of Amsterdam (The Netherlands) and Naples (Italy). Wastescapes are discarded territories, however, they can also be understood as opportunities to realize regenerative concepts and support strategies related to environmental, spatial and social challenges of the territories and their surroundings. Core is then to improve the socio-ecological values of such territories. Wastescapes are different case by case, being affected by site-specific challenges and characterized by high complexity. The research presented in this chapter shows that the route towards a Circular Economy requires the consideration of wastescapes as ‘spatial resources’ important to be included in strategies of transition. It represents a fundamental step to overcome problems related to both resource (and land) scarcity, land use in general and spatial fragmentation, while providing opportunities to include through eco-innovative services other values than just the monetary ones to society. The spatial regeneration of wastescapes in the built environment involves a re-thinking of the structure of these areas in a larger (metropolitan) context. Within such metropolitan settings, in particular peri-urban territories, also referred to as the areas in-between urban and rural landscapes, are most affected and characterized by this problem of wastescapes.

In this first chapter of the Book “Regenerative Territories. Dimensions of Circularity for Healthy Metabolisms”, the relation between circularity and space is explored. The main focus is the development over time, and in particular the way how spatial planning and strategies respond to new unpredictable urgencies and opportunities related with territorial metabolisms. In relation to space and time, 5 grand rules are explored as necessary to implement the transition towards Circularity: (1) The Circular Economy paradigm shift requires a socio-ecological perspective and looking beyond boundaries; (2) Circular Economy is based on systems thinking and territorial metabolism; (3) a Circular Economy calls for a renewed approach to the public domain and stakeholder involvement; (4) amplifying the definition of Circular Economy with the inclusion of wastescapes; and (5) Planning the Circular Economy as an open collaborative system. The paradigm shift of contemporary planning towards circularity is aimed to facilitate the capacity of cities to be adaptive and flexible to the speeding up of the biggest changes in the present-day society. Therefore, the relation between the various spatial scales is strictly interlinked to the time scales, as well as to the metabolic processes and Life Cycles of Territories. In this perspective, the “existing city” is a non-negotiable common heritage, the result of a “selective accumulation” of material and immaterial traces produced by the slow and progressive anthropic work in the territory. Contemporary spatial planning looks beyond boundaries. This concerns both the physical boundaries between areas or countries, both the boundaries of the various scale levels of solutions, of the interrelated networks, of the public space and, particularly, of their reciprocity. It induces the scrutinization of the underlying social needs and the finding of instruments that allow the spatial planning and renewed infrastructure to fit the changing social objectives such as sustainability and liveability. The territory of the Circular Economy is the city, as a complex and multidimensional organism. However, the most problematic field for experimenting with “circular planning” is the peri-urban territory consisting of urbanized areas, crossed by differentiated phenomena of settlement expansion beyond the limits of the countryside, which identifies rural and open space, traditionally coinciding with the limits of the city. A circular planning for the regeneration of the peri-urban identifies the waste spaces, the decay of the territory, the obsolescence and end of life of buildings, functions and urban parts now inadequate, namely wasted landscapes (wastescapes). The latter are both the result of metabolic transformations of the territory and generator of prospects and potential for rebalancing the material welfare of the city.

This paper focuses on the circular economy (CE), the building industry, and on the disruptive technological innovations that intersect in these arenas. It outlines how disruptive, often digital, technologies can potentially enable a CE in the building industry, primarily within the two most wasteful phases of the building cycle, the construction and demolition phases. This is achieved through an analysis of the potential of each technology type to enable a CE, using existing literature and desktop research on applied examples of the technological solutions in question. The paper aims to clarify the implementation scenarios of digital technologies for the circular building industry and are organised according to technology type, CE principle, building phase, material family, estimated TRL, and type of application.

In recent years, implementing a circular economy in cities has been considered by policy makers as a potential solution for achieving sustainability. Existing literature on circular cities is mainly focused on two perspectives: urban governance and urban metabolism. Both these perspectives, to some extent, miss an understanding of space. A spatial perspective is important because circular activities, such as the recycling, reuse, or storage of materials, require space and have a location. It is therefore useful to understand where circular activities are located, and how they are affected by their location and surrounding geography. This study therefore aims to understand the existing state of waste reuse activities in the Netherlands from a spatial perspective, by analyzing the degree, scale, and locations of spatial clusters of waste reuse. This was done by measuring the spatial autocorrelation of waste reuse locations using global and local Moran’s I, with waste reuse data from the national waste registry of the Netherlands. The analysis was done for 10 material types: minerals, plastic, wood and paper, fertilizer, food, machinery and electronics, metal, mixed construction materials, glass, and textile. It was found that all materials except for glass and textiles formed spatial clusters. By varying the grid cell sizes used for data aggregation, it was found that different materials had different “best fit” cell sizes where spatial clustering was the strongest. The best fit cell size is ∼7 km for materials associated with construction and agricultural industries, and ∼20–25 km for plastic and metals.The best fit cell sizes indicate the average distance of companies from each other within clusters, and suggest a suitable spatial resolution at which the material can be understood. Hotspot maps were also produced for each material to show where reuse activities are most spatially concentrated.