Introduction
Cities in India have been as old as the Saraswati-Ghaggara- Indus river valley civilization and , by any standard, the smartest one . Advanced town planning and Hydrological technology marked the soundest city planning and engineering principles, which continue to inspire awe to these days. Time has come to do away with rural urban dichotomy and focus on single subject of “habitats”, which may vary in population, financial resources, geographical area. Last two decades, especially with heightened activity in UN with various COPSs in climate change, Biodiversity, Sustainable goals and Habitat 3 , we have seen neologism like climate change, SDGs, Carbon neutral, net zero and Many more associated with cities. An important one in this list is “ Circular Cities” , which do encompasses most crucial elements.
The idea of “ Circular City” could be attributed to the application of circular economy principles to city function. The current model of supply triggered provisioning of products and services in city does lead to very high and unsustainable consumption of crucial resources, destruction of biodiversity, adverse impact on environment on land, water and air pollution. Further the issues of justice, inclusion, poverty gender and its interplay with city life needs to be highlighted.
About the precise definition of Circular City, which may not even be required, but there emerges a broader consensus which could convey the meaning . The Circular city declaration, ( https//circularcitiesdeclaration.eu/about/about-the-declaration ) refers to integrated approach to transitioning to circular economy. The prolonging utility of products, recycling the resources and closure of material loop are more specific elements over and above the usual broad concerns over the environment, biodiversity and sustainability. The UNECE , the united Nations economic Commission for Europe and the U4SSC Initiative , united for smart sustainable cities, have worked on the “Guide to circular cities” ( https://unece.org/info/publications/pub/21969? ) wherein a shift from a linear approach: consumption of goods using raw material, use and consumption and disposal as waste, towards a circular approach of efficient production and usage of goods. It seeks to broaden the concept of circularity beyond economy to numerous components of city management and optimal use of city assets and products through re using, refurbishing, remanufacturing, recycling. This guideline further lists 4 essential components for implementing circularity in cities: city assests and products, circular actions, circular city outputs and circular city enablers.
Though a formal definition of circular cities could not be accessed within Government of India documents, use of circular economy approaches to cities under the CITIIS 2.0 promoting the circular economy practices in cities, the circular economy cell (CE Cell) under
the NITI Ayog, and most importantly the two major urban missions of Swachh Bharat Mission and the AMRUT mission working on managing the challenges gravely impacting environmental and climate like liquid and solid waste management, including plastic, Construction and e waste; and used water treatment, beyond regulatory compliances. The notion of circular approach has found mention in the budget speeches of the union as well as some state. Yet the Concept of Circular Cities would continue to evolve.
The salient features , the principles of circular economy, do owe its primacy in the field of International Development, environment, climate , carbon and sustainability intersect to Ellen MacArthur Foundations Publication, 2013, ” Towards Circular Economy” wherein the dangers of resource depletion required a call for New Economy focussing of “reusing products or components”, “restoring the material, energy and labour component”, and “fostering new virtuous cycle and prosperity in a world of finite resources”. Beyond the take- make-waste(dispose) approach, circular economy would focus on reuse, recycle, remake, reduce. The elements of circular economy , attributed to “Korhonen, Nuur, Feldman, Berke are closed cycles of materials wherein all the material is recycled back and the manufacturing cycle is designed in a way where circulation of material” has primacy, focus on maintenance rather on replacement, recycling of nutrients in the food cycle; renewable energy approach with solar PVC, Wind, Biogas options of renewable energy mainstreamed in energy economics, and use of system thinking . ( circular economy remerging moments, Shalini Goyal Bhalla, 2020) .
Restorative and regenerative principles would resonate with circular economy. The essential principles of circular economy like designing out of waste and pollution , keeping the products and material in use and regenerating the natural systems. Challenges emerging in the third decade of the third Millennium, economic , social ,political ,cultural , geopolitical, geostrategic are manifestations of the irrelevance of old economic and social principles of contemporary technology, economic and population, requiring foundational rethinking of socio-economic scaffoldings. “ The traditional principles of 3 r’s, reduce, reuse and recycle, the new work tries has expanded into 6 r’s, reuse, recycle, redesign, remanufacture, reduce, recover”
From the City Politicians or City administration point of view, Circular Cities can be seen most readily in the Solid Waste Management. Defining , Categorizing, and castigating something as waste, useless, and disposable, itself requires foundational rethinking. Everything being a resource, that can be utilized for many useful things, products, and services, is a visioning challenge!! Solid waste, activities of segregation of waste, and especially its processing, starting from composting of wet waste as organic fertilizer to be used in city gardens or kitchen gardens, and even in rural agriculture. Maharashtra developed a process of certification of the Municipal Waste through government-approved laboratories and its branding as “ Harit “ compost and distribution to farmers, under the Swachh Bharat Mission, Under the leadership Of Ms. Manisha Patankar Mhaiskar, then Principal Secretary Urban Development Department, Government of Maharashtra. This is a unique example of nutrient recycling. Similarly, the project of waste to electricity on PPP basis in the City of Solapur as well as the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, Maharashtra, is running successfully, either for captive consumption as well sold in grid. Jalgaon City and Malegaon City in Maharashtra are well known for recycle and reuse of plastic waste, which remakes them into various household products like plastic containers, mats , pipes and others. Thus vigorously pursuing the recycle and reuse approach for solid waste Management has been a demonstrated sector of circular cities. Internationally, “ Urban Mining” experiment in cities of “Brazil” is also an example of scale achieved , at least at the city level. Scattered examples of recycle and reuse in solid waste do exist but the urban system globally has not delivered Scale, Impact , institutionalization professionalization and commercialization in the guesstimated tens of thousand cities and town in world. With average lifecycle of built infrastructure in India, the civil infrastructure like buildings, bridges, roads fluovers and freeways and tooll ways etc. normally have a thirty years lifecycle, irrespective of the theoretical paper based norms, related with the manintenance scheduling and expenditure made by the cities.
The used water sector, though most crucial, have limited examples of its treatment and recycling and reuse. Singapore Cities tertiary treated water , even for drinking water is well known example. In Maharashtra, Nagpur city successfully worked on sewage water treatment plant and its supply of treated water to a thermal powered electricity generation plant is working. Chandrapur Municipal Corporation , at a small scale, could enforce its treated water to be used in non potable purpose like construction use. Chatrapati Sambhaji Nagar Municipal Corporation in Maharashtra , developed a project of treating sewage water and giving it to farmers cooperatives in its hinterland and offer a model to bridge the rural urban ecological challenges. Though the examples are encouraging, opportunity remains in achieving accelerated deployment across all cities with a commercially viable business model, helped by policies like regulations and incentives and financial support . Ensuring the repetitive use of water, would also include the huge Citizen engagement, cultural intelligence and behavioural engineering comprehensions.
Within the concept of circular economy and application criteria’s in urban areas of global south, energy consumption by cities for its various processes would be most crucial. City cannot survive without the expenditure of energy, or in the language of thermodynamics, enhancing entropy, in city processes like urban mobility, Water supply, used water treatment, collection, reuse of solid waste, and the residential and commercial construction and built infrastructure of any city. Energy expenditure in the industrial activity and the service sector of economy located in the urban areas, along with residential and commercial activities in city is essential. Over reliance on fossil fuel based energy generation for the purpose of mobility, based on the internal combustion engines for private transport, or the use of diesel powered genset for electricity in non grid mode, and use of general fossil fuel powered , mostly coal fired thermal powered electricity based thermal electricity in most of nation states of global south. The dimension of carbon net zero cities, the climate context of increasing carbon concentration in atmosphere increasing from 200 ppm of 1850 era to 410 ppm of CO2 in contemporary times , and its subsequent implication of increase of CO2/ green House gases on climate change and subsequent global challenges, can be best addressed with the circular city approach. The use of Solar PVC, wind energy, waste to electricity including the Bio Gas and Compressed Bio-Gas under the SATAT scheme, has been documented. Various central sponsored schemes, have prioritised processing of wet waste into bio gas and its utilization into energy generation, including electricity and compressed Bio gas (CBG) powered mobility most relevant for urban areas. There have been various examples. The first waste to electricity project in the national capital region was the Timarapur – okhala integrated waste processing in the NCR Delhi , have been a trail blazer, irrespective of the challenges and its limitations. There have been more than 50 projects under the waste to energy sector in various cities of India , focusing from electricity generation to mechanical energy. Ensuring resonance in the 4500 cities and towns of the India, on various aspects of circular cities like solid waste management, liquid waste management led electricity generation and subsequent climate and carbon actions, urban framework of city living will be most desirable.
The various centrally sponsored schemes related with urban India often rely on formal as well as informal frame work of urban processes in Use of solar and wind as well the solar wind and bio gas powered electricity generation. City of Pimpri Chinchwad has tried to focus on the electricity generation in the city. The realistic assessment of weather, political elitism, energy availability and city has been a greater learning experience. The energy requirement of various city processes depends upon the national and state grid for the micro requirements which can be addressed by the taluka and district machinery.
Application of circular economy principles for the cities of India, and global south, would require greater capacity building and resonance with various municipal, city, state and union/ Federal organizations. The propriety of laws and rules and utility of its applications depends on the value its adds and the political economy. Notions and ideas of new science, philosophy and the history of cities depends upon the gradual progression of knowledge. The Disaster Management framework under the Disaster Management Act of 2005, amendments for urban authority, at the national and state level, requires constant upgradation of knowledge. Thus the manifestation of urban life situations emerged in various ways and solutions had to be constantly developed . The framework of circular cities would continue to provide the global, regional and local governments to focus on the ground realities. The urban system in India needs to be agile, competent to face any challenge it may be required to engage with.
The concept of circular cities in India and global south essential depends upon the the ability deliver results on ground.
