Circular (City) Ports: Introducing Circular Building Blocks framework and content

Transferring individual practices – as they are – usually doesn’t work. Instead, core ideas, objectives, some elements of the process and modalities are more likely to be transferred and/or adapted to a new context. In addition, equivalents of some elements can be found that may work better in a specific context.

In exploring the possibilities for transferability and adaptability, eight ‘prototypical milieus or situations’ were finally identified that can be discerned in delta (city) ports. These ‘milieus’ are referred to as ‘building blocks’. They are a first step in identifying which elements will integrate the complex and constantly adapting assemblages that the port will need to create a circular ecosystem. Although not all of these building blocks are necessarily present in all of the selected (city) port areas, they capture the vibrancy of the answers that (city) ports and water-based areas provide to their explicit circularity objectives.

The hypothesis of the ‘building blocks’ is demonstrated here using a imaginary port-city corridor where a series of differentiated milieus coexist and create synergies to function as a circular system.