Circular urban business models

Circular Economy (CE) business models can significantly contribute to campus economies through food waste reduction solutions and cost savings (save on food costs by growing their own produce, reinvesting those savings into educational resources). Well-designed CE models also contribute to sustainable urban development through the efficient use of urban spaces and repurposing abandoned spaces.

This project is twofold: (1) Develop conceptual designs for on-campus vertical farming prototypes on University premises and integrate innovative circular business models into vertical farming through repurposing of campus areas and creating new campus landscapes. (2) Develop circular business models for commercial urban agriculture (product-as-a-service model) in Istanbul with potential end-users including vertical farms for restaurant owner chefs and F&B directors of hotels, or vertical gardens for apartment complex residences (to increase the experiential quality of commercial space.

Our research team has the following skills/expertises:

(1) Landscape architects and interior designers will work on the latest technology and design ideas to create new campus landscapes and artificial growing environment for different agricultural products (high-value crops) to be produced through vertical farms.

(2) Food scientists in our Gastronomy and Restaurant Management department) and instructors chefs in our University - L’Atelier Bleu Restaurant will be working on identifying and evaluating the alternative high-value crops potential for VF system production.

(3) Supply chain in a circular business model: With the aim of conceptualizing the processes and performance objectives of a supply chain in a circular business model (compared to a supply chain in a linear business model), industrial engineers in our research team will focus on "use" and "recover" processes of a supply chain in a circular business model.

(4) Property (re)valuation - real estate finance researchers will work on the (re)valuation models for urban space (new landscape opportunities and vision, reuse and repurpose of urban areas, reuse of urban waste (energy and materials) as a new commercial property usage type in cities.