Circular Wastescapes. Waste as a resource for peri-urban landscapes planning

The alarming data on the consumption of resources, waste production and the inability of ecosystems to absorb and metabolize them, necessitate a rethinking of the role of waste in traditional planning instruments. The research work adopts Circular Metabolism as a model, which interprets cities as open complex systems, considering waste not only as an output, but also as an innovative resource. The management of resources as a new planning tool can re-interpret and improve peri-urban environmental resilience. Reversing the perspective on waste management means to strive towards Circular Economies to preserve the life of ecosystems. Next Economies will use natural, spatial, social and financial capital of the existing city in an intelligent way, adding value at the local level. In this sense, the Living Labs seem to be an innovative instrument for contemporary urban planning, which is capable of merging the skills of researchers and policy makers together with the involvement of local communities, to find pioneering strategies for the management of waste and for regeneration of wastescapes.