The political doughnut: A new compass for just and regenerative cities

How can we improve the prosperity and justice of our cities?

Much political strategy still relies on outdated trickle down economics, expert intuition, or reactive agendas—not necessarily on science, social indicators or the actual needs of the people.

While political theory and moral values are essential for strategy, we also need a compass to operationalize the transformations we aim to undertake.

That’s why I propose developing a Municipal Doughnut—a framework that offers a clear snapshot of social and environmental health and resilience. It can serve as a foundation for municipal programs and the articulation of political strategies.

Using the Doughnut to Rethink Urban Resilience and Political Strategy

Doughnut Economics provides a powerful tool to assess our capacity to meet basic needs—such as housing, food, energy, mobility, and health—within the limits of Earth’s life-supporting systems. It offers a compelling visual snapshot of how effectively we provide for everyone, without compromising ecological resilience or justice.

The model can be understood as a doughnut (“rosquilla”) with a sweet spot in the middle. You don’t want the jam to spill out—representing overshoot—nor do you want it missing inside—representing deprivation. The goal is zero underprovision and zero overshoot. However, these goals are often in tension, as providing for needs involves environmental and social impacts, especially in a non circular economy.

The Doughnut as a Democratic Planning Tool

I propose using this framework to better manage our capacity to secure the basic needs of our citizens while securing life-supporting systems (air, water, soil, vegetation, wildlife…). It can help us improve how cities are organized, how resources are distributed, and how plans are made — with the goal of designing systems that are just, regenerative, and redistributive by default

Quoting Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics, on each concept:

Just: “A just economy leaves no one in the hole of deprivation and creates the conditions for every person to thrive with dignity, respect, and opportunity.”

Regenerative: “Instead of running down the living world, we need economies that run on sunlight, that turn waste into food, and that work with, rather than against, the cycles of life.”

Redistributive: “Instead of allowing wealth and power to be concentrated in a few hands and then trying to redistribute it afterwards, we need economies that share value far more equitably as they are created.”

In order to assess the state of our cities, we will need to define indicators — both quantitative and qualitative — that can give us an idea of how well we are doing on the dimensions stated.

That means ultimately having access to data at the city level, as we already have some aggregate numbers at the national scale that are not operational at lower levels of policy and organizing.

Having that information in our municipalities helps to situate in the concrete both social and environmental challenges, enabling a transition away from planetary overshoot toward ecosystem regeneration. Although capturing this snapshot at the city level is challenging, cities like Barcelona, Amsterdam, and others have successfully attempted it — and with new technologies, we can gather meaningful data, even at the citizen level, with relative ease.

Key Questions to Discuss

• What should be measured?

• Who can act to improve indicators?

What to Measure?

This depends on our goals. If the aim is twofold—(1) to assess the extent to which people’s material and psychological needs are met, and (2) to evaluate how harmoniously the city functions within ecological boundaries—then the indicators should reflect that dual perspective.

At the planetary level, the Planetary Boundaries framework offers the best scientific approach to understanding Earth’s life-supporting systems. It reminds us that soil, biodiversity, water cycles, and atmospheric stability are as important as climate.

At the societal level, things are more complex. I propose measuring:

• Access to and affordability of essential services like housing, energy, drinkable water, nutritious food, and mobility. 

• Public sentiment and subjective wellbeing through representative interview—to understand what people care about and where they feel underserved or excluded.

This dual approach gives us both quantitative indicators of service access and qualitative insight into lived experiences and public priorities.

Of course, measuring all this involves challenges—particularly around agency and data quality—but we must balance scientific rigor, data availability, and social relevance.

Who Can Improve These Indicators?

In theory, everyone—but we know that power, knowledge, and agency are unevenly distributed. While most Doughnut applications don’t yet analyze who causes or could resolve problems, it’s essential to do so.

We need to identify:

• Who is responsible for poor performance

• Who has the capacity to improve the situation

• What are the best practices within our outside the municipality

This includes understanding which political or administrative bodies can directly influence the outcome, so engagement efforts can be better targeted.

Let’s be clear: this is a democratic exercise. The goal is to engage and mobilize as many people as possible. But even with a strong civil society, we need to study governance structures and drivers of change to be truly effective.

A Step-by-Step Process

Concluding remarks

The Political Doughnut offers a new way to govern cities and practice politics. Instead of chasing media-driven narratives or corporate agendas, it grounds political strategy in real concerns and systemic change.

It helps us manage cities in ways that are regenerative, just, and resilient—both ecologically and socially.

Parties that embrace this approach can rapidly gain mass support and lead the deep transformations our cities urgently need.

But we must also remember: cities do not exist in isolation. They are deeply connected to rural territories and to the global dynamics of justice and inequality.

Municipal policies should consider the extent to which cities are complicit in human rights violations, unequal exchange, and neocolonial practices. Only by addressing this can we dismantle oppression and help all communities—near and far—flourish in autonomy and dignity.

Photo by Passivhaus Institut / passivehouse.com