The critical role of the UK’s industrial areas in net zero neighbourhoods

These industrial districts, often outside our daily experience of UK cities, are the critical ’back of house’ infrastructure that can transform how the UK uses resources. Our work with Newham Council in Canning Town and Cody Road demonstrates this potential. Through engagement with local businesses, we identified over 30 circular economy projects to grow the area as a hub for green innovation and inclusive employment opportunities, while delivering much-needed homes through better use of brownfield land.

The pressure to deliver both homes and employment space has created a false choice threatening this potential. Across the UK, industrial land has been steadily converted to residential use – reducing cities’ capacity to process materials locally and forcing greater reliance on distant, carbon-intensive supply chains. With over 11,000 new homes planned around Canning Town alone, the challenge is acute: how do we accommodate housing growth while strengthening rather than weakening our circular infrastructure?

The answer lies in reimagining industrial areas as integrated urban districts where homes and workspaces coexist productively. Construction – one of the top contributors to the UK’s material footprint – needs accessible consolidation facilities to store and sort materials, creating batches large enough for suppliers to economically reclaim. Multi-storey approaches can deliver both increased employment density and residential accommodation, while meanwhile use of development sites provides locations for temporary material reuse hubs.

Far from being incompatible, industrial and residential uses can actively reinforce one another. Historically developing along river valleys for power and transportation, they represent vital ecosystems requiring restoration. When properly integrated, they provide access to large natural landscapes and amenity for residents in increasingly dense urban environments.

In Canning Town, this integration comes in the form 500 metres of new River Lea footpath, 1.3 kilometres of ‘cool’ green corridors, and spaces where nature thrives alongside industry. The Circularity Gap Report shows circular built environment strategies can reduce the UK’s material footprint by 10.1% and carbon emissions by 19.2% - but only with proper infrastructure.

The scale of housing delivery in areas like Canning Town exemplifies how regeneration can provide the momentum to deliver sustainable infrastructure in employment areas. Similar opportunities exist across Britain’s post-industrial cities. Our work with Bristol City Council on Frome Gateway and Whitehouse Street regeneration demonstrates how employment areas can be reimagined to support both circular material flows and new housing while improving access to river valley landscapes. Elsewhere in the UK, Manchester’s industrial corridors and Liverpool’s docklands present equivalent potential.

The policy interventions needed are clear if challenging. Cities must adapt business rates and planning permissions to accommodate reuse facilities, particularly in vacant spaces. Development contributions should be pooled to fund coordinator roles matching material supply with demand across projects. Public procurement requirements must drive initial demand for reused materials, creating market confidence for private investment.

Crucially, planning policy must evolve beyond conventional wisdom seeing industrial and residential uses as incompatible. Cities need frameworks that actively supporting co-location, prioritising viable sites for material processing while enabling residential development benefiting from proximity to the good jobs that come with green industrial innovation.

Material mapping and pre-demolition audit databases can match reused material supply with demand across borough boundaries. Combined authorities such as Greater Manchester, Liverpool City Region, and the West of England are beginning to incorporate circular economy principles into their climate action plans. While implementation varies across regions, these authorities are actively planning more integrated approaches.

The UK Circularity Gap Report demonstrates Britain can boost circularity to 14.1% and cut material consumption by 40%. To achieve this, industrial areas must be seen not as obstacles to housing, but as vital parts of inclusive, sustainable local economies. Properly integrated with surrounding neighbourhoods and supported by appropriate policy, they are essential infrastructure for this transition.