Reusing railway infrastructures in the spirit of circular theory. A contribution to an operational concept

Abstract

This paper aims to be a contribution to the proposal that the reuse of obsolete railway buildings can also be considered in the field of circular construction and circular architecture. Recent discussions argue that to consider circular economy only as the reuse of materials or the reduction of waste is a misconception. The reuse of buildings is also an issue in circular theory. The European Union itself, since 2002, supports the Programme ESPON-European Territorial Cooperation Programme, which incisively inserts obsolete buildings in the “spirit of the circular economy”, giving greater attention to industrial areas undergoing change and deindustrialisation. Considering that the concepts of circular construction and circular architecture derived from the circular economy, which emerged as a way to promote and ensure urban sustainability, this article addresses in a first moment the concept of circular construction from the first documents developed in the context of sustainable development until the latest policies proposed by ESPON. It also analyses the reuse of obsolete railway spaces based on the analysis of some emblematic examples of reuse, namely the Musée d’Orsay and the Promenade Plantée in Paris. These two examples represent different types of railway infrastructure, and their currently use will frame the reuse of railways within the concepts of circular construction.