Are you creating a City Doughnut?

#1

I have been delighted by the variety of towns and cities that has told me how they are using the Doughnut to reimagine urban prosperity.

In Kokstad, South Africa, back in 2012 the doughnut was used to envisage a new future for the town.

In Stockholm, Sweden, urban designers are using it to create the design of a new suburb for the city

In Berlin, Germany the Wuppertal Institute held a one day workshop to explore the Berlin Doughnut.

If you are also thinking of using the Doughnut to help reimagine and remake a city, town or community that you are part of, please feel free to use this space to share, create and discover ideas. Start a new topic (based on your city if you like), or just add a reply here…

#2

I am very interested in the topic of urban economics; it will be my primary study in graduate school. How do we think that the doughnut fits into topics of gentrification? Are there ethical ways to grow cities in which residents do not get priced out of/kicked out of apartments? How do we balance these things? I am interested to hear what people have to say.

#3

I was reading about a town in Germany that took over its electricity grid from E-on and started generating renewable energy. Cities have a quite a lot of roof space that could accommodate solar generation. There are also buildings that can house batteries to even out the flow of electricity.

Small scale local generation and storage will soon be economically viable and would ensure the lowest cost and most resilient energy systems.

I am lucky in that I can afford to be an early adopter. I have solar panels and an electric car. I will soon have a battery and a little more solar generation that will make me almost electricity independent. I will also not use any gas from say early March to perhaps November. A new type of charger will also allow me to use some of my excess spring to autumn solar to charge my car.

The early adoption of these technologies by others and myself will bring down the cost for others due to scale, and, hopefully encourage the development of even cheaper and less polluting options.

#4

I have just watched your TED talk and was amazed by your concept of doughnut economics. I wish that I had found out about you and your concepts when I was still doing my thesis in Rhode Island School of Design. I had a hard time grappling with the idea of designing a city that is using current mainstream economics. My thesis became: Can we truly design a sustainable city on the premise of a unsustainable culture and economics? I roughly tried to answer it on my own but still ended up with a lot of open ended questions. I would love to get your thoughts and everyone else in your community.

I really hope to become an urban planner someday here in the Philippines.