Circular economy (CE) implementation in the construction sector remains uneven and fragmented, despite growing strategic and policy attention. A central reason is the misalignment between stakeholder roles, decision authority and lifecycle-specific implementation requirements. This study aims to develop a lifecycle-based systems-thinking framework that explains how different stakeholder types shape the formulation, translation, execution and adaptation of CE strategies across the building lifecycle.
A systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted using Scopus and Web of Science, covering peer-reviewed publications from 2015 to 2025. A three-phase research design was adopted: (1) systematic identification and screening of relevant literature following PRISMA guidelines, (2) qualitative content analysis combined with matrix-based thematic synthesis to classify stakeholders into functional roles and to map their lifecycle-specific requirements, barriers, enablers and CE strategies and (3) systems-oriented synthesis to integrate the mapped relationships into a lifecycle-based, stakeholder-centric framework for CE implementation in construction.
The findings indicate that existing CE frameworks inadequately explain how circular strategies are translated into practice across lifecycle stages. Prevailing approaches implicitly assume that the presence of enablers leads to implementation, overlooking how decision authority, discretionary capacity and information continuity are distributed among stakeholder roles. Consequently, responsibility for circular delivery is frequently transferred to downstream actors who lack control over strategic intent, contractual mechanisms and enabling infrastructures. This structural misalignment results in systematic dilution of circular intent beyond early project stages and constrains learning from operation and end-of-life performance, contributing to persistent gaps between circular ambition and realized outcomes.
This study advances CE research by moving beyond static barrier–enabler perspectives toward a stakeholder-centric, lifecycle-based systems explanation of CE implementation. By explicitly linking stakeholder functional roles, strategy translation processes, execution under differentiated discretion and adaptive feedback mechanisms, the proposed framework provides a robust analytical foundation for policy design, project governance and future empirical and modeling-based research in the construction sector.
