What is circular urban planning and could it help us reinvent the city?

Circular urban planning is an alternative to urban sprawl and an approach that looks to use the many existing resources. Photo: AFP

In the face of urban sprawl, French urban planner Sylvain Grisot has outlined alternatives to how cities tend to develop, get built up and how space is used in them.

He calls this alternative approach "circular urban planning". Rather than a scientific theory, it's a collection of best practices that enables us to think differently about cities and their uses.