Project title

Circular Urbanism in Fragile Contexts

Research question

How do improvised circular economy practices in contested cities challenge mainstream high-tech circularity models, and what governance innovations emerge from these conflict-adaptive systems?

Project description

Hazem M. K. Abuorf’s research investigates improvised circular economy (CE) practices in contested cities such as Nicosia and Belfast. In these contexts, conflict and institutional fragmentation have led to the emergence of low-tech, community-based material flows—such as rubble reuse and shared utilities.

Challenging mainstream CE models that emphasise high-tech industrial solutions, his project asks: how do these conflict-adaptive systems redefine circularity as a survival strategy, and what governance innovations do they inspire?

Using spatial ethnography and comparative case studies, the project maps what Abuorf terms “resilience corridors”—peri-urban zones where informal material loops enable forms of coexistence. These are contrasted with formal CE hubs, such as those in Rotterdam studied by Alexander Wandl, to develop a new framework of “conflict-adaptive circularity”.

Funded by NIAS and linked to TU Delft’s Circular Built Environment Hub, the project contributes to rethinking post-war reconstruction strategies (e.g., in Ukraine) and offers fresh perspectives for addressing polarisation in divided cities. It bridges urban studies, peacebuilding, and the EU’s sustainability agendas.

Selected publications

  • (2023) “Planning Amid Violent Conflict: The Struggle for Co-existence”
    Book proposal accepted for publication by Routledge, First Edition.
    ISBN-13: 978-1-4094-4917-1

  • (2021) “Investigating the Relation between Culture and Architecture: The Case of Rassem Badran’s Style of Architecture”
    Chapter in the book Cities’ Identity Through Architecture and Art – Volume 2, AATSI, Springer.

  • (2021) “Beyond a Visual Tactile: A ‘Continuity of Memory’ into the Present”
    Accepted for publication on 7th November 2021, Journal of the University of Palestine for Research and Studies.

  • (2021) “Mortar to Repair Rammed-Earth Walls’ Surfaces: Do We Still Need It?”
    Accepted for publication on 1st November 2021, Construction Technologies and Architecture, Vol. 1, pp. 825–833.

  • (2020) “Critical Regionalism in the Gulf Architecture: Masdar’s-City ‘Eco-Project’”
    Journal of Architectural Research and Development, Vol. 4(3), pp. 17–28.
    DOI: 10.26689/jard.v4i3.1042