Strategic Urban Projects through the Lens of Circularity: The Case of Masterplans in the Brussels Capital Region

Giulia Caterina Verga; Victor Ooghe; Ahmed Zaib Khan

doi:10.55845/joce-2026-4173

Authors

Giulia Caterina Verga Building, Architecture & Town Planning (BATir) - Sustainable Urban Futures Institute (SUFI), Ecole Polytechnique, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2826-2809
Victor Ooghe Building, Architecture & Town Planning (BATir) - Sustainable Urban Futures Institute (SUFI), Ecole Polytechnique, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB); Department of Architectural Engineering, Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) Author https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4030-532X
Ahmed Zaib Khan Building, Architecture & Town Planning (BATir) - Sustainable Urban Futures Institute (SUFI), Ecole Polytechnique, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2893-0301

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55845/joce-2026-4173

Keywords:

Urban Planning, Urban Circularity, Circular Cities, Circular Urban Regeneration, Brussels, Inclusivity, Spatial Practices, Sustainable Urban Design

Abstract

This article explores how circularity principles are integrated into urban design and planning, with a focus on Strategic Urban Projects (SUPs) in the Brussels Capital Region (BCR). It examines the role of the Plan d’Aménagement Directeur (PAD, in English simply ‘regulatory masterplan’) as both a regulatory and strategic urban design and planning instrument for embedding circularity-driven ambitions within urban transformation processes. Through a comparative analysis of three such master plans as carefully selected case studies, the research examines the main question: how planning instruments, stakeholder dynamics, and urban design strategies contribute to more circular, resource-conscious, and inclusive urban development. The study draws on a literature review, semi-structured interviews, urban design analysis, and a simplified methodology to estimate the weight of construction material stocks and flows moved or preserved in each project and its scenarios.

Findings show that circularity-inspired ambitions introduce a critical shift by decelerating urban transformations. This shift reveals an inherent tension between urban planning practices that tent to mainly focus on transformation, and circularity’s call for a slower pace of change in the physical layout of urbanity. Negotiating this friction is crucial, as it necessitates balancing urban development objectives with the ecological impacts of transformations. The study underscores the importance of integrating top-down policies with bottom-up civic engagement and academic research to foster a pluralistic approach to circular urbanism. Thus, through this analysis, the article advances the hypothesis that SUPs can serve as experimental platforms for advancing circular paradigms, while acknowledging the challenges of operationalising circularity in practice.

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