Abstract
A bio-economy is grounded on the use of renewable, biotic resources. A circular economy, on the other hand, emphasises resource conservation in general. When one refers to a circular bio-economy, one gets the best of both these worlds, so to say. It is a set of ‘many-to-many’ relationships, which are perfectly symbiotic at best. In the longer run, in a circular bio-economy, one can expect economies of scale and scope. It follows that one would then have accelerated the pace of sustainable development—that never-ending journey towards the elusive goal of ‘sustainability’. It goes without saying that urban metabolism in a circular bio-economy will metamorphose into something extremely transformative—for combating climate change and its repercussions, as well as a host of other challenges, attaining several Sustainable Development Goals in the process. Well-begun is half done, and here is where cities ought to learn from each other. All new ventures can be inspired by the paradigm of a circular economy (bio-economy wherever that is possible), while simple symbiotic relationships amongst diverse entities within a city can be uncovered with some out-of-the-box thinking. Needless to state, as all know, challenges lurk where opportunities abound to supplant the current ‘take-make-use-dispose’ culture of a linear economy with a beneficial ‘grow-make-use-share-partake-restore’ paradigm of a circular bio-economy. Smart cities will be the ones that avail of these opportunities and strive towards the ‘more from less’ goal.
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This chapter is dedicated to the fond memory of my wife Varshita.
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Venkatesh, G. (2023). Urban Metabolism in the Circular Bio-economy of Tomorrow. In: Bhadouria, R., Tripathi, S., Singh, P., Joshi, P.K., Singh, R. (eds) Urban Metabolism and Climate Change . Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29422-8_9
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