Donut economics - Sustainable Land and Resource Use

How can the principles of Doughnut Economics guide sustainable land management?

1. The Ecological Ceiling: Don’t overshoot Earth’s limits

For land management, this directly translates into operating within environmental limits such as:

• Climate stability

Land use contributes to emissions (deforestation, peatland drainage, construction). Doughnut-thinking pushes land managers toward:

• Protecting high-carbon ecosystems (peatlands, forests, grasslands)

• Prioritising low-carbon development

• Integrating nature-based solutions (reforestation, wetland restoration)

• Biodiversity protection

Land-use decisions must avoid degrading habitats. Doughnut Economics encourages:

• Landscape-scale conservation

• Wildlife corridors in planning

• Regenerative agriculture rather than monocultures

• Avoiding “leakage” where preserving one area pushes destruction elsewhere

• Freshwater integrity and land degradation

Sustainable land management under the Doughnut means:

• Limiting irrigation to sustainable yields

• Preventing soil erosion

• Maintaining natural floodplains rather than hard-engineering everything

In short: don’t treat land as infinitely exploitable.

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2. The Social Foundation: Ensure land meets human needs

Land use must also support social thresholds. This means:

• Housing

Planning within the Doughnut pushes for:

• Affordable, liveable housing

• Compact, transit-oriented development

• Using brownfield land before greenfield

Importantly, it avoids the false trade-off of “housing OR environment” by encouraging efficient, socially just urban form.

• Food security

Agricultural land should be managed to:

• Produce healthy, accessible food

• Reduce waste and water use

• Support smallholder and local farming systems

Regenerative farming aligns strongly with Doughnut principles—building soil health while sustaining yields.

• Livelihoods

Land is a major source of jobs (construction, farming, tourism). Doughnut Economics encourages:

• Sustainable local economies

• Community ownership of land

• Avoiding land grabbing or displacement

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3. The "Safe and Just Space": Balancing the two

This is where Doughnut Economics becomes uniquely useful for land managers.

It stops planners from:

• Maximising economic gain at ecological cost

• Preserving nature at the expense of human needs

• Pursuing growth for its own sake

Instead, decisions are evaluated by a dual test:

Does this land use stay within environmental limits AND deliver social benefit?

Examples:

✔ Renewable energy siting

Doughnut lens:

• Yes to solar on brownfields, rooftops, degraded land

• No to wind farms that fragment key habitats

✔ Urban expansion

Doughnut lens:

• Encourage densification and public transport

• Avoid sprawl into carbon-rich or biodiverse land

✔ Agriculture

Doughnut lens:

• Support agroforestry, rotational grazing, soil regeneration

• Limit pesticide use to protect freshwater/soil boundaries

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4. Practical tools from Doughnut Economics used in land planning

Land management authorities can adapt Doughnut principles into:

• Doughnut “portraits” for regions

Cities like Amsterdam already produce “Doughnut assessments” to evaluate land-use plans—measuring social and ecological impacts together.

• Circular economy zoning

Land for recycling hubs, repair centres, and local manufacturing reduces pressure on natural resources.

• Participatory planning

Communities help decide land use priorities—aligning with Doughnut’s emphasis on distributive and regenerative design.

• Regenerative urban design

Green roofs, permeable surfaces, and urban forests contribute to the ecological side while improving liveability.

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5. Why Doughnut Economics is especially useful for sustainable land management

Because land involves multiple trade-offs, it gives policymakers a holistic compass:

• It avoids narrowly economic decisions

• It embeds climate, biodiversity, and soil limits

• It centres social justice and equality

• It transforms land from a commodity into a commons that must be stewarded

Essentially, it turns land management from extraction toward regeneration.

What trade-offs exist between economic development and staying within ecological limits on land?

“Economic development and ecological limits on land often create trade-offs because land carries competing demands: housing, infrastructure, agriculture, and conservation all draw on the same finite space. On one side, expanding development can stimulate growth, improve housing supply, or create jobs; but it can also lead to biodiversity loss, soil degradation, and increased emissions if it pushes us beyond ecological thresholds. The key is not to frame the trade-off as growth versus the environment, but to recognise that long-term economic development actually depends on maintaining ecological systems. For example, building on floodplains may deliver short-term economic gain but increases long-term vulnerability and costs. The challenge for policymakers is therefore to design within a ‘safe and just space’—pursuing development on brownfield land, densifying cities, and adopting regenerative agriculture—so economic activity can grow without breaching climate, soil, and biodiversity boundaries. In practice, the trade-off becomes a design problem: how to meet social and economic needs while respecting the land’s ecological limits.”

How should policymakers balance housing, infrastructure, and environmental constraints in cities and rural areas?

“Policymakers should balance housing, infrastructure, and environmental constraints by adopting integrated, long-term planning that aligns growth with sustainability. This could include promoting higher-density development in cities, protecting green spaces, investing in efficient transport and utilities, and ensuring that rural land use supports agriculture and ecosystem services. By coordinating economic, social, and environmental objectives, policymakers can foster inclusive, resilient, and productive settlements without overstepping ecological limits.”

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