‘Let’s brew a new Brussels’: imaginaries of the circular economy

In this paper, I mobilise the notion of imaginaries to analyse a case of the circular economy (CE) in the region of Brussels, Belgium, where bread surplus from mass retail is upcycled to produce a local and more sustainable beer. I examine circular imaginaries and how they are translated into urban practices and materialised in the city. My analysis shows that the craft and post-industrial narratives of new circular products may find a positive echo at the urban level when re-development strategies to attract new productive activities mobilise similar narratives of creativity, innovation and craft skills. It concludes that CE risks becoming a rallying signifier helping to support a discourse coalition on the productive and circular city.