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Circular Economy and Urban Mining: Resource Efficiency in the Construction Sector for Sustainable Cities

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Sustainable Cities and Communities

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals ((ENUNSDG))

Definition

Urban mining is the activity of recovering materials and energy from anthropogenic stocks, and the buildings are one of the most important stocks in the city context, since the construction sector is responsible for high rates of natural resource extraction and consumption. It can be defined as a circular economy strategy in a macro level, as it is capable of returning construction and demolition wastes as raw materials in the industrial process.

Introduction

Cities are dynamic anthropogenic systems with a particular metabolism. Inputs of materials, energy, and information are processed and transformed into large quantities of consumer goods, essential to constant supplying population needs in growing urban settlements (UN-HABITAT 2016; Baccini and Brunner 2018). Since the twentieth century, consumption has become the fundamental basis of the capitalist society and synonymous of development and success. Commodities and goods are intentionally designed to last each time...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Civil Engineering Program, Positivo University, Curitiba, Brazil

    Ana Paula Bender

  2. Graduate Program in Environmental Management, Positivo University, Curitiba, Brazil

    Patricia Bilotta

Authors
  1. Ana Paula Bender
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  2. Patricia Bilotta
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Patricia Bilotta .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. European School of Sustainability, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Walter Leal Filho

  2. Center for Neuroscience & Cell Biology, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal

    Anabela Marisa Azul

  3. Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo University Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Passo Fundo, Brazil

    Luciana Brandli

  4. Istinye University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Pinar Gökcin Özuyar

  5. International Centre for Thriving, University of Chester, Chester, UK

    Tony Wall

Section Editor information

  1. University of Passo Fundo, Passo Fundo, RS, Brazil

    Luciana Londero Brandli

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Bender, A.P., Bilotta, P. (2019). Circular Economy and Urban Mining: Resource Efficiency in the Construction Sector for Sustainable Cities. In: Leal Filho, W., Azul, A., Brandli, L., Özuyar, P., Wall, T. (eds) Sustainable Cities and Communities. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71061-7_40-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71061-7_40-1

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  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71061-7

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