Smart and sustainable urban manufacturing for a circular economy

Sustainable development merits that modern cities must help in increasing the social capital, improving the environmental performance, and sustaining the economic benefits. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of economic empowerment in urban areas, that can be achieved by locating industries inside the cities. Drawing on the historical performance of industrial zones and the literature on urban manufacturing, we argue that it is time to rethink the approach towards industrial geography. Urban manufacturing offers a promising solution to this issue, however, the nexus between sustainability, smart technologies, circular economy, and urban manufacturing is missing from the literature. To fill this gap, we have developed a set of propositions, which suggest that urban manufacturing increases the circularity performance of cities and requires carefully selected smart manufacturing technologies to flourish. Reconfigurable manufacturing systems, blockchain technology, dynamic scheduling, robotic systems, and collaborative warehousing can be leveraged to enhance the sustainability of urban factories. Furthermore, an entrepreneurial ecosystem and government support is essential to enhance the socioeconomic performance of urban manufacturing, and researchers should work on developing system models for urban manufacturing.