Exploring the implementation of circular economy principles through sustainable project management strategy in construction projects

Although the circular economy in construction has attracted growing scholarly attention, limited empirical research has examined how circular economy principles are implemented at the project level through sustainable project management, particularly in rapidly transforming construction markets. Moreover, most empirical research has been conducted in Western countries and the awareness of circular economy and sustainable project management in the Gulf region remains limited. Therefore, their implementation in resource-dependent regions such as the Gulf region shows a critical gap in both research and practice. This study addresses this gap by exploring the implementation of circular economy principles through sustainable project management strategy in construction projects in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A qualitative research design with an inductive approach based on ten semi-structured expert interviews was adopted. The findings reveal a strong contradiction between the circular economy vision and its implementation at the project level. The main barriers include limited awareness of circular economy and sustainable project management, client-dominated decision structures, limited authority of consultants and contractors, reliance on conventional project management and procurement approaches, low stakeholder involvement, and a lack of incentives and capabilities to implement circular practices. The study concludes that advancing circular economy implementation in construction projects requires awareness, expertise and a shift from traditional linear project management toward more collaborative and sustainability-oriented project management approaches. The paper contributes to research on the implementation of circular economy and sustainable project management by showing critical gaps and offering suggestions for their implementation in construction projects within rapidly transforming, resource-dependent economies. • Sustainable Project Management (SPM) and Circular economy (CE) is studied • Empirical data is from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) construction industry • Limited awareness, expertise and incentives to implement SPM and CE in the KSA • Change from traditional to collaborative project management methods is proposed