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With the development of science and technology, the acceleration of urbanization, and the increasing prominence of eco-environmental problems, how to coordinate the relationship between economic development and the natural environment becomes a research hotspot for related research institutions at home and abroad. Thus, we conducted research on the planning framework of the circular economy eco-city. We introduced the theoretical basis of circular economy and eco-city; analyzed the current situation of Wafangdian from the aspects of economy, environment, and society; and established the eco-city index evaluation system based on circular economy. We also employed principal component analysis to confirm the weighting of each index, evaluated the economic situation of Wafangdian using the sum of the weightings, analyzed the economic development status of the city from 2011 to 2015, and identified the advantages and disadvantages to the cycle of economic development in Wafangdian. Finally, we provided several suggestions on the circular economy in the construction of the Wafangdian eco-city from large, medium, and small hierarchies. Practices have shown that research on the planning framework of the circular economy eco-city has a positive effect on the sustainable development of humans and nature.

Circular economy (CE), as a new economic paradigm, has gained traction in recent years. Cities' role in driving CE forward has been perceived as being increasingly important to achieve sustainable development (SD). For this reason, there is an urgency to understand what a circular city is and how it might be composed. This research explores the ways in which the city-state of Singapore is transitioning to a CE.

A systematic literature review on CE and cities was carried out using a bibliometric review and a snowballing technique. This review was performed on academic and on non-academic papers.

This research has confirmed the lack of robust circular cities case studies. As Singapore has already begun its journey towards circularity, this article examines its current efforts and offers recommendations in the design and implementation of CE policies that may be valuable not just for Singapore but also for high-density and rapidly expanding cities around the world that require a new development pathway to emulate.

This manuscript is the first detailed, independent and comprehensive review of Singapore's approach to CE.

This study examines how circular economy (CE) performance indicators are constructed in an urban context characterised by a multitude of conflicting interests and visions of urban development. It explores the process of constructing a shared consensus about the performance indicators in conditions of low contractibility, where intervention objectives and outcomes are not easily quantifiable because the object is ambiguous and cannot be fully specified in advance.

The construction of performance indicators at the urban level is examined through the lens of an action net. Using group interviews, observations and documentary analysis, this study investigates the case of a CE initiative in the city of Milan.

The study demonstrates that in cases of low contractibility, the development of CE solutions requires actions that span across organisational boundaries, organised in an action net. As the action net unfolds, it is closely knotted with the construction of performance indicators, indicating a co-constitutive relationship between the two processes.

This interdisciplinary study contributes to the public sector accounting literature by exploring the complexity of performance indicator construction at the urban level. It further recognises performance measurement in cities as a dynamic and flexible process, in which the interconnected actions and involvement of multiple actants shape the composition of the indicators.

This study aims to list indicators to allow construction of a ranking for environmental sustainability in towns and cities, in relation to energy and water consumption and the prevention, production and management of waste. A systematization of theoretical and empirical indices was elaborated, focused on this dimension.

The results allow presentation of a ranking supported by multivariate statistical techniques – Exploratory Factor Analysis and Principal Component Analysis – confirming its scientific quality and robustness, with this being the main contribution of the study.

The analysis of the ranking revealed the great heterogeneity of towns and cities in Portugal, with the city of Lisbon and the town of Sardoal in the Top 20, suggesting that the achievement of the goal of environmental sustainability is proactively associated with the ability to articulate resources with infrastructure and the strategic and political will applied, being essential the appeal to the individual awareness of each citizen, even if the design of green infrastructures does not depend on citizens’ behavior. This means that redesigned green infrastructures may exist, but their success depends. In addition, cities are increasingly moving toward a circular economy articulated holistically with open and participatory governance.

The empirical evidence obtained in the Portuguese context provides some implications for practice, by showing it is possible to counteract the negative effects of rapid urban growth and its environmental consequences in urban and non-urban areas.

The main contribution and innovation of this study lie in the presentation of empirical evidence that the population density of a city or town does not have a cause–effect relationship with its level of environmental sustainability.

This paper aims to explore the role of performance measurement systems as technologies of government for the assessment and management of the effects of COVID-19 in the context of six cities involved in a large European project.

Based on the field study of a large European project, this paper relies on a comparative case study research approach (Yin, 2003). This research design allows insights into the role of central and local key performance indicators (KPIs) in managing the ongoing pandemic.

This paper explores the role of accounting in the assessment of the COVID-19 pandemic. Its findings illustrate how the “adjudicating” and “territorialising” roles (Miller and Power, 2013) of local and central accounting technologies rendered the COVID-19 pandemic calculable.

This paper connects central and local performance management systems in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. It relies on a governmentality approach to discuss how different programmes and the relative KPIs were impacted by the ongoing global crisis.

The purpose is to conduct a systematic review of circular water management and its role in improving water availability amid increased demand and decreased supply.

A systematic literature review was implemented, which helped in the identification, selection and critical appraisal of the various research to answer the research question. It was guided by the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews (PRISMA) statement. The review was conducted mainly on Web of Science and Scopus databases between November 20 and December 8, 2022, with search strategies involving free-text searching, phrase searching, truncation and Boolean operators.

The search process yielded 46 articles exploring circular water management. The findings reveal that circular water management offers more promise than linear or business-as-usual approaches. There are various circular water management models, although most of them emphasize a shift from the “take, make, consume and waste” principles. Contrarily, the success of the circular water management framework hinges on its ability to embrace resilience based on changing environmental conditions. Furthermore, the model focuses on improving inclusiveness with various stakeholders working together to improve water management.

The research is the first of its kind as it identifies a critical gap, the imperative need to develop a universal framework that can significantly advance the comprehension of circular water management.

This contribution aims to demonstrate that the adoption of a holistic approach to the development of infrastructures supporting the growth of cruise tourism can represent a trigger for a more sustainable urban and port planning in the Moroccan context. Although, along with this growth, there are global-local issues pertaining to sustainability and resilience that need to be addressed to support sustainable urban and social development of tourist cities.

Documents and literature review were used to develop an in-depth analysis related to the different fields involved in the proposed theoretical reflection. Scientific publications, data and international statistical reports have been used to validate the approach.

The work provides empirical insights to show the strengths of the country related to the sustainability, suggesting that they deserve to be integrated, involving urban planning, green energy transition, as well as the economic and social sustainability of tourism industry.

This paper aims to stimulate a debate among stakeholders and scholars involved on tourist port cities urban planning to avoid a “silos” approach and to favour a more sustainable infrastructure development process. In that sense, the paper fulfils the need to provide a basis to encourage the integration of different strategic topics and agenda concerning social and economic growth of tourist port cities.

To create circular economies, we need supply systems to convey materials between their use lives. Often, though, it is not possible to control an entire supply network. Without a coordinator to implement circular economy principles, how can circular supply systems come to be? This chapter sets out to build on complex adaptive systems (CAS) theory and circular economy research to conceptualize how information flows between actors can facilitate the emergence of a circular supply system. It begins by outlining why a supply network can be considered a CAS, as well as the CAS progression from information to adaptation to emergence. Next, it argues that information on local supply networks, extended supply systems, and biosphere impacts is particularly important for circular production. Finally, it concludes with two potential types of emergence that can stem from these information flows: (1) new actor roles and networks and (2) new spatial and temporal patterns. Ultimately, this conceptual overview aims to give researchers and practitioners a CAS frame for thinking about how continual adaptation to information flows can enable change toward circular supply systems.

Municipalities have the potential to become models of the circular economy (CE). This paper aims to examine the impact of the municipal council’s characteristics on municipal CE disclosure and promotion.

This paper is based on the resource dependence and upper echelons theories. For a sample of the 100 largest cities in Canada, a mixed methodology is used to code and analyze data and test the hypotheses.

Municipal councillors’ education and experience related to the environment or sustainability are both likely to affect CE disclosure, and their sector membership (public or private) moderates the relationship between CE disclosure and councillors’ experience. This experience may be reinforced by membership in the private sector, which has applied CE principles more extensively than the public sector has. Municipal councils with a greater number of councillors from the private sector appear to perform better in matters of transparency and to disclose more CE information on their public websites.

Municipalities could use the findings to foster their transition to CE by implementing a CE-related training plan for their councillors. A CE-dedicated section on their websites could improve transparency and inform and educate residents about CE.

The public sector could learn from the private sector’s best practices regarding CE.

This paper contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence of the transparency and engagement of municipalities toward CE. The authors extend the resource dependence and upper echelons theories to a new context, that of public organizations.