Circular economy in the built environment: a systematic literature review on the role of digital technologies across regional contexts

Abstract

The built environment has a significant role in ecosystems and resource depletion. Therefore, its transition from linear into the circular economy (CE) is critical yet still progressing. While research on CE in the built environment (BE) is growing, an in-depth understanding of facilitators as digital technologies (DT) is required to accelerate its implementation. Investigating these digitalization efforts, considering the regional variations of developed and developing economies, needs to be deepened. This study aims to demonstrate state-of-the-art CE research, providing insight into how digital technology preferences evolved through regional context as a facilitator in the built environment. For this purpose, 80 articles were assessed by (i) descriptive and (ii) thematic analysis through a systematic literature review (SLR). The descriptive analysis highlights the trends in the literature on CE-enabling DT in the built environment. The thematic analysis indicates the prominent DT to facilitate the transition with a link to the regional context and related variations. The results identify integrated DT in CE studies and their relevance to the economic levels of several countries, and they show research gaps to guide future research. This study contributes to an emerging field of research at the nexus of the built environment, the circular economy, and digital technology by mapping regional research tendencies.