EU policies and soft urban regeneration via multi-level planning and governance for circular cities

This article investigates the elements of hard and soft urban regeneration processes, largely grounded in the rationale of integrated, sustainable urban development supported by EU policies. Based on existing literature, it proposes a conceptual framework to distinguish hard from soft urban regeneration. Finally, this paper discusses the contribution of circular cities’ strategies to foster soft urban regeneration, taking the case of the Portuguese InC2 Initiative (2019–2023). Mostly based on a literature review, the analysis concludes that this Initiative has provided a very positive contribution to shift urban regeneration processes by reinforcing urban municipality cooperation, multi-level planning, knowledge sharing and administrative capacity.