Approaching circular cities and territories: the adaptive reuse of buildings for the sustainable regeneration of urban and rural areas

Circular economy is widely recognised as a possible paradigm to achieve sustainability and it has been applied also at territorial scale. However, an holistic perspective is needed to consider circular cities not only as the total of circular businesses settled in the city, but to embrace all the other dimensions like urban-rural linkages and social, natural and governmental aspects. Spatial planning can play a significant role in this perspective like fostering the adaptive reuse of buildings and cultural heritage instead of consuming virgin soil. Examples from EU funded project RURITAGE show how this practice contributed to enhance the inhabitants’ quality of life, the place’s attractivity, environmental preservation and social inclusion in rural areas.