Barriers, enablers, and considerations towards circular affordable housing in Jordan: insights across policy and practice from stakeholders’ interviews

Al-Bqour, Nadine, Marchesi, Marianna ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7954-1808 and Stevenson, Vicki ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8531-2091 2026. Barriers, enablers, and considerations towards circular affordable housing in Jordan: insights across policy and practice from stakeholders’ interviews. Presented at: ReSBE 2026 International Conference, Thessaloniki, Greece, 20-23 October 2026. Published in: Bragança, Luís, Tsikaloudaki, Katerina, Giarma, Christina, Mateus, Ricardo, Kontoleon, Karolos, Askar, Rand, Salles, Adriana and Cervantes, Camila eds. ReShaping the Built Environment through Sustainability and Circularity - Proceedings of ReSBE 2026 International Conference - Volume 2. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering. Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering , vol.2 Cham: Springer Nature Switzerland, pp. 973-981. 10.1007/978-3-032-35104-3_113

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Abstract

Circular economy transitions in housing remain largely theorised in Global North contexts, with limited empirical evidence from affordable housing systems in the Global South. This study assesses the circular readiness of Jordan’s affordable housing sector using 32 stakeholder interviews structured around 15 clusters of circular design practice contextualised for Global South. Findings are interpreted through a three-tier readiness framework reflecting the balance between barriers and enablers. Results indicate moderate but uneven readiness. Tier 1 clusters, such as water efficiency, basic energy measures, seismic robustness, and right-sizing, are routinely applied but largely compliance- and cost-driven. Tier 2 clusters, including waste-to-energy, locally sourced materials, indoor environmental quality measures, incremental housing, and demountable construction, remain pilot-based and constrained by regulatory rigidity, technical uncertainty, and weak market structures. Tier 3 clusters, such as adaptive reuse, material reuse pathways, stock–flow tools, green roofs, and cultural value preservation, remain aspirational due to systemic barriers. Across tiers, regulatory and policy constraints emerge as the dominant limiter of scaling. The findings provide transferable insights for advancing circular affordable housing in comparable Global South contexts.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item - published (Paper)
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Architecture
Publisher:	Springer Nature Switzerland
ISBN:	9783032351036
ISSN:	2366-2557
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	12 October 2026
Last Modified:	12 Oct 2026 10:01
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/190130

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