The spectre of growth in urban transformations: Insights from two Doughnut-oriented municipalities on the negotiation of local development pathways

Benedikt Schmid

Urban Studies, 2025, vol. 62, issue 11, 2222-2241

Abstract: This paper examines the ambiguous role of economic growth in shaping urban transformations within two municipalities that are implementing the Doughnut Economics (DE) framework. Doughnut Economics proposes a radical reorientation of economic objectives, prioritising human well-being and ecological limits as the primary goals of economic activity. Adopting an ‘agnostic’ stance on growth, DE does not explicitly oppose economic growth, unlike degrowth approaches, but rather side-lines it. This paper explores the practical implications of this agnostic stance by analysing how DE principles and tools are interpreted and applied in real-world contexts. Empirical insights from two small municipalities – Tomelilla (Sweden) and Bad Nauheim (Germany) – highlight a key tension: while decentring but not rejecting growth allows for the engagement of a broad range of actors in urban transformations, the absence of a robust discussion on growth in these growth-oriented settings enables pro-growth perspectives to persist largely unchallenged. Recognising the challenges this poses for urban transformations beyond growth, the paper advocates for an open but decidedly growth-sceptical approach, replacing Doughnut Economics’ ‘growth agnosticism’ with a ‘secularisation of growth’.

Keywords: Doughnut Economics; post-growth; progressive politics; radical municipalism; urban transformation; ç”œç”œåœˆç» æµŽå­¦; å Žå¢žé•¿; 进步主义政治; 激进地方自治主义; 城市转型 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:62:y:2025:i:11:p:2222-2241

DOI: 10.1177/00420980241305322

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