The Urban Doughnut: Measuring and Governing Socially Just, Ecologically Safe Cities

Cities are central to the interconnected social and ecological challenges of the twenty-first century, concentrating populations, infrastructure, consumption, innovation, and political decision-making. Doughnut Economics offers a normative framework for addressing these challenges by connecting a social foundation of essential human needs with an ecological ceiling defined by planetary boundaries. However, translating this framework into effective urban policies remains challenging. Key questions concern how cities can measure progress, reconcile competing priorities, and govern development in ways that improve well-being without intensifying resource use, emissions, biodiversity loss, or environmental injustice. Existing research has advanced urban sustainability indicators, climate and resilience planning, circular economy strategies, participatory governance, and spatial assessment methods, while emerging applications of the urban doughnut demonstrate its potential as a tool for diagnosing social and ecological conditions. Nevertheless, important gaps remain concerning indicator selection, data availability, scale, institutional capacity, political legitimacy, and the management of trade-offs across different urban contexts. Further investigation is needed to assess how Doughnut Economics can move from a broad conceptual framework to an operational approach capable of informing inclusive, resilient, and regenerative urban transformation.This Research Topic aims to examine how Doughnut Economics can be applied, adapted, evaluated, and critically developed in cities and regions. It will explore how urban actors can define and measure socially just and ecologically safe development, and how indicators, models, planning tools, policies, and governance arrangements can support decision-making within these boundaries. The Research Topic also seeks to identify the institutional, financial, political, and participatory conditions that enable implementation; assess tensions between social priorities and ecological limits; and compare applications across cities with different geographical, economic, and political characteristics, including contexts in the Global North and Global South.To gather further insights into the application of Doughnut Economics to urban and regional development, this Research Topic focuses on conceptual, methodological, empirical, comparative, and policy-oriented research addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:• Urban applications and adaptations of Doughnut Economics• City-level indicators, metrics, dashboards, and data platforms• Spatial analysis, mapping, modelling, and assessment of urban doughnuts• Housing affordability, public health, mobility, employment, and energy access• Food security, social equity, and inclusive urban development• Decarbonization, climate resilience, pollution reduction, and biodiversity protection• Circular resource use, sustainable land use, and regenerative urban systems• Participatory planning, citizen engagement, and community-led initiatives• Multi-level governance and institutional capacity• Fiscal, regulatory, and public–private instruments for implementation• Trade-offs between economic growth, infrastructure expansion, and ecological limits• Digital transformation, resource demand, and urban sustainability• Comparative studies across cities and regions in the Global North and Global South• Critical perspectives on the assumptions, limitations, and political implications of Doughnut EconomicsAppendix—The Research Topic welcomes theoretical contributions, empirical studies, comparative case studies, policy evaluations, modelling research, and methodological innovations. Topic editors: Yongyou Nie, Enci WANG, Wenwen Zhang Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/84383/the-urban-doughnut-measuring-and-governing-socially-just-ecologically-safe-cities