The Role of Doughnut Economics in Resilient Urban Design

According to Raworth, "we've inherited economies that assume that the shape of progress is endless growth…We were told that things grow and grow and grow and they go through the ceiling, but nobody ever asked what happens when we go through that ceiling."

Instead of focusing on endless economic growth without considering the ecological implications of growing indefinitely within a limited biosphere, the Doughnut Economics approach focuses on recognizing limits and needed constraints. "The doughnut sets out boundaries," Raworth explains. "It says there is a social foundation, a boundary below which no human being should fall. And there is an ecological boundary beyond which we cannot grow."

Rather than seeing these boundaries as hindrances or obstructions to our way of life, Raworth believes that recognizing these boundaries can be profoundly liberating. "People sometimes think that boundaries get in the way, but boundaries unleash our creativity," she says. When we begin to take these boundaries seriously, that is when governments and civic society can start to unleash creative proposals, policies, and incentives that allow for a more resilient urban design.

For example, the Doughnut Economic framework begins by ensuring that all people have access to healthy, affordable housing. However, Raworth asks: "How do we create housing that is affordable for all but does not exacerbate the climate change we're already facing?"

The doughnut economic model combines social and ecological boundaries to help communities invent a sustainable economic model. On one side of the "doughnut," there is a social foundation above which all people should reside. In terms of housing, this foundation should ensure that every resident of a resilient city has access to safe, healthy, affordable, and dignified housing.

On the other side of the doughnut, however, there is an ecological ceiling. Our endless growth economic model has "overshot" that ceiling, thus leading to the myriad of ecological crises we face. Creating resilient urban areas requires individuals, communities, and policymakers to consider this ecological ceiling in the design of affordable and dignified housing alternatives.