Executive Summaries

01 Green Buildings in Shenzhen, China

   Achieving a Circular Economy is considered by Chinese decision makers to be a pathway to Ecological Civilization, the Chinese national strategy for sustainable development. Under the broader national policy framework of a Circular Economy, green buildings are promoted as a main focus area and include considerations of efficient land use, renewable energy supply, energy saving, water saving, resource efficiency, green construction materials, and construction waste management among others.

   In the COVID-19 context, infrastructure investment is a dominant component of the stimulus package in China. Ensuring that infrastructure is sustainable is of vital importance for a green recovery. Green buildings, as a form of sustainable infrastructure, are one of the cross-cutting innovations that have the potential for a resilient economic recovery and decent jobs creation, and at the same time contribute to the circularity and sustainability of the socio-economy.

   Shenzhen was the first city to develop green buildings in China in 2008. To date, it has become one of the few cities with the largest scale and density of “green buildings” in the country. The city’s efforts in promoting green buildings include a holistic regulation and policy framework formulated over the years. Economic incentives, green and digital technology development, capacity building and international cooperation also play important roles in enabling the proliferation of green buildings in Shenzhen.

   However, challenges persist: there is a lack of economic incentives and some are not easily accessible; construction waste management is still relatively inefficient; green buildings operations are difficult to realize due to higher costs; and consumers are not fully engaged in the green buildings industry.

   To tackle these challenges and further boost the industry, Shenzhen is strengthening policy implementation through integrated approaches such as targeted support, subsidy reform, private sector engagement, and the integration of green buildings into sustainable urban planning.

   This case study showcases the successful story of Shenzhen’s development of green buildings, including good practices and lessons learned, as well as the exchange of knowledge and experience with other cities, provinces and countries. The study aims to inspire broader domestic and international audiences, especially policymakers, to help scale up the Circular Economy through sustainable infrastructure.

02 Achieving the Regional Circular and Ecological Sphere in Japan: A case study on the development of a lightrail transit system in Utsunomiya City

   Japan is facing demographic challenges of declining birth rates, an aging population and an uneven population distribution concentrated mainly in megacities. These trends have weakened local economic growth and the capacity of local governments in the conservation of ecosystems and their ser-vices. To address the social, economic and environmental issues, the concept of Re-gional Circular and Ecological Sphere (RCES) was proposed in the Fifth Basic Environment Plan (2018). RCES is a new model of economic growth aimed at building an environmentally-sound and economically-viable sphere through the circulation of natu-ral, human and financial resources across neighboring regions.

   In the RCES, mountainous, agricultural and fishing villages provide natural resources and relevant ecosystem services to cities. Through consumption and providing human and financial resources, cities support the production and ecological conservation in the rural areas. Self-reliant and decentralised economic development is expected to be achieved through local production for local consumption and strengthening partnership between rural areas and cities.

   Local governments have developed various approaches and pilot projects for achieving RCES which can be summarized in three major areas. These include: i) supply and use of renewable energy to support public services, including governmental organisations, schools, hospitals, and public transportation; ii) building recycling systems and utilisation of recyclable resources; and iii) utilisation of various ecosystem services that are formed by forests, villages, rivers, and the sea. Depending on the actual situation, circularity can be achieved within a specific rural area, within a city, or through collaboration between cities and rural areas.

   In this paper, the development of a light-rail transit (LRT) system in Utsunomiya City is selected for a case study to demonstrate how sustainable infrastructure and related services play a key role in achieving the RCES. The LRT system has gained a high strategic position in both the 6th Utsunomiya Comprehensive City Plan (2018-2027) and the 2nd Utsunomiya Urban Transportation Strategy (2019-2028) for achieving a network-type compact city. The LRT is a next-generation public transport system powered by local renewable energy generated from waste. With improved services and enhanced connections with other public transport systems and other means of transportation, the LRT system will enable access for everyone, particularly senior citizens, and meet their mobility needs. The LRT project including connected public transport systems will introduce MaaS (mobility as a service) and CASE (IOT and AI-based connection, autonomous driving, sharing and electrification) to optimize transport services and make mobility more comfortable and convenient, and emitting less carbon. This service which will link various functional areas of Utsunomiya City together, including industrial parks, central urban areas and tourism areas, and the construction of transit centres with multiple functions, will no doubt help to create jobs and revitalize the local economy.

   While providing convenient, comfortable and sustainable mobility services for achieving SDG Target 11.2 on sustainable transport system, the LRT project will help achieve other SDG targets including the promotion of renewable energy (Target 7.2), decarbonisation (Target 13.2), sustainable tourism (Target 8.9), sustainable industrial development (Tar-get 9.2), women’s employment (Target 10.2), living conditions (Targets 9.1 and 11.1), sustainable infrastructure (Targets 9.1), waste generation and reduction (Targets 12.3 and 12.5), public participation in community development (Target 17.7) and access to all levels of education (Targets 4.3, 4.7). 

   Financially supported by the national government, similar LRT projects are under development in many other cities in Japan which can learn the experiences from the LRT project in Utsunomiya City. Some important factors for the development of sustainable infrastructure based on the experiences learned from this case study are summarized as follows: 

- Development of sustainable infrastructure based on a shared long-term vision or relevant governmental development plans and strategies is a success factor. 

- Linking infrastructure projects with other services/activities and urban planning to create multiple synergies beyond individual construction projects is the key to maintaining economic sustainability. 

- Governmental financial support for nurturing the development of new models and innovations is important to promote pioneer projects.

03 Transition to Electric Mobility and Renewable Energy in the Republic of Korea

   This case study demonstrates how low-carbon transitions in the Korean transportation and energy sectors can be aligned with Circular Economy goals. As such, the case study details how Sustainable Infrastructure can not only contribute to scaling up a Circular Economy and improving resource efficiency in the Republic of Korea (ROK), but also make e-mobility and renewable energy sectors more sustainable. Both sectors are expected to drastically change in response to global and national sustainable development agendas, resulting in accelerating production of electric vehicles (EVs) and vastly increased generation of renewable energy (most notably solar power). Existing policy frameworks and regulations must, therefore, be updated to include and specify management approaches for new types of ‘future wastes’, such as used batteries from electric vehicles (EV batteries) and decommissioned solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. Waste management and recycling/reuse approaches for these and other future wastes should be developed early, before waste volumes become too large.

   As the ROK is already anticipating and responding to these changes and challenges, this case study provides a review of existing Circular Economy frameworks as well as the waste management and recycling policies and infrastructure to be established in the ROK. 

   As such, this case study report describes the content and context of the most important national policies on a Circular Economy, such as the “Framework Act on Resource Circulation”, as well as Korea’s COVID-19 recovery package, the “Green New Deal” and the “Digital New Deal”. The case study also discusses the environmental challenges in the ROK associated with the increasing amount of used EV batteries and decommissioned solar PV panels in recent and cur-rent periods before appropriate waste management regulations and infrastructure systems for these wastes are fully comprehensive. It also presents the key challenges faced by the ROK in the establishment of Circular Economy-related policy frameworks and of waste recycling systems.

   The focus of the case study is on the introduction of the “Future Waste Recycling Sys-tem” in the ROK that will comprise the entire infrastructure system necessary for the collection, sorting, evaluation, and recycling of used EV batteries and decommissioned solar PV panels. The establishment of this “Future Waste Recycling System” will serve as a key element in scaling up the Circular Economy in the ROK, thereby generating triple benefits for the environment, society, and the economy.

   This case study is designed to serve as an example of good practice for consideration by other countries that are aiming to align low-carbon transitions with Circular Economy goals, and seek to scale up a Circular Economy through the development and deployment of Sustainable Infrastructure. These considerations are particularly relevant in the COVID-19 era, as countries around the world spend billions to stimulate their economies, thus presenting an opportunity to increase Sustainable Infrastructure and promote the shift towards Circular Economies.