The City Portrait

Continuing with our series highlighting some of the foundational approaches to our work, we move from Doughnut Economics to a framework designed to put the Doughnut into Action on a city scale–The City Portrait.

The first iteration of the doughnut at city scale was developed in Amsterdam with city officials and DEAL’s (Doughnut Economic Action Lab) locally based partners Circle Economy as part of the Thriving Cities Initiative. The intention for the Amsterdam City Doughnut Portrait, “building off the momentum of the city’s initiative to be completely circular by 2050…is to provide a holistic snapshot at the city’s many complex interconnections within the world it is embedded, by considering its local aspirations—to be a thriving people in a thriving place—and global responsibilities, both social and ecological.”

As we see it, the combination of using this type of thinking to inform policymaking coupled with self-organising and innovative experimentation seems to be a powerful avenue to initiate impact, across neighborhoods, simultaneously. Thus increasing the number of collaborative solutions attempted and increasing the number of opportunities for learning.

What we appreciate about the idea of the City Portrait is that it focuses on both local and global perspectives and, most importantly for us, it ties human activity to ecological impact—again both local and global. What we also like about this framework is that it is just a framework. What metrics are used and which aspects are highlighted are up to those working with it. So each iteration is a snapshot and blueprint—for your town—showing what’s here and now, what’s possible for the future, and, by working through the process, some avenues for moving conditions towards that desired future.

We’ve provided ample resources at the end of this blog for further review, but we wanted to illustrate at least a little of what building Denver’s City Portrait might entail (as we see it at this juncture). To be clear, we are not going to map all this out and then present it; this is a collaborative tool and it only works when the many perspectives and needs are incorporated into the design process.

The Four Lenses of the City Portrait Framework:

 

The Local-Social Lens:

The Local-Social lens asks what ‘Thriving’ means to the people of Denver and compares that vision with a snapshot of where the city is currently for those areas. The uniqueness of Denver’s Portrait will come from us—the citizens—and our collaboration to determine the set of dimensions that form our city’s social foundation. How do we want to explore and define a “basic standard of wellbeing that all city residents have a claim to achieving”?

“The 16 social dimensions used for the Doughnut were derived from the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals with additions of Culture, Community, and Racial and Gender Equality which were not listed in the SDGs but are generally considered important to human flourishing.”

We think these are good guideposts to consider, but we are more interested in what the inhabitants of Denver think are important and valuable and worthy of dedicated efforts to sustain and maintain over time. If we cluster these 16 dimensions, as other cities have done, on the aspiration for all citizens to be—Healthy, Connected, Enabled, and Empowered—how might we define and prioritize the attributes of each? How do we ensure each neighborhood has its own unique needs met AND fosters the health of the neighboring areas?

The Local-Ecological Lens:

The Local-Ecological lens considers the natural habitat Denver lives within, including the services provided by the habitat to the city (purifying the air, housing diverse species, storing carbon, etc); and asks how Denver might “generate these ecosystem services through its design, build, and resource use”. This view invites us to identify and adopt standards that are scientifically based in the local-ecological context of Denver, while considering the dynamics that larger ecosystem flows have on our natural habitat and our resource use.

We of course would also want to understand the natural habitats of particular neighborhoods; do the residents have what they need—clean air, water—and if not, why not? Does geography matter? How is each neighborhood connected to the ecological services provided to the city from nature and how does that impact the neighborhood’s ecological health?

The Global-Social Lens:

The Global-Social lens looks at the unique pattern of connections Denver has with other parts of the world. These connections have formed over time and are “shaped by factors such as location, history, commerce and culture.” As a way to bring in a wider, more holistic and encompassing Portrait that incorporates global implications of city life, this dimension asks how Denver’s relationship and attitudes towards other cities and cultures impact, both positively and negatively, humans around the world.

An important aspect to this dimension is the role of governance as well as the depth of cultural diversity understanding. We see both as significant factors in how we, the people of Denver, receive and welcome others and how we are received and welcomed by others around the world.

The Global-Ecological Lens:

The Global-Ecological lens invites us to consider Denver’s consumption and resource use with the city’s fair share of a globally sustainable level of resource use. It also invites us to consider Denver’s impact on the larger ecosystems within which it resides and how do we, as residents, contribute to the health (or not) of said systems?

With that, getting exact metrics for this lens is complex; and in our opinion a bit elusive. What’s important from our vantage point, at least at this stage of the consumerism culture, is the propagation of the idea for us to ‘consider our habits’; which as a reflective practice can be a powerful way for us to create the space to make different choices and create new habits. Additionally, as with the other lenses in the framework, Denver doesn’t need to work on all the categories all at once. What are one or two global-ecological dimensions that Denver either is directly impacted by or that Denver has the resource and ingenuity to offer solutions and support? We can start there and see what emerges as we progress on those targets.

 Wrapping Up

So that’s the general idea of a City Portrait for Denver. We think it serves well as a framework to generate rich conversations, integrate various perspectives, while providing a guide for moving forward. As we build collaboratives and investigate the many dimensions in each lens, talking to those living and working in the space, we will map and share as we progress. Our hope is that we will inspire people to want to join in the effort of designing the Future Denver where we can all thrive. We look forward to building the conversations with you, our neighbors, as we work to build an Elevated Denver.

References and Resources:

Creating City Portraits:
https://doughnuteconomics.org/tools-and-stories/14

Designing the Doughnut A Story of Five Cities:
https://doughnuteconomics.org/stories/93

A City Portrait Canvas for Workshops:
https://doughnuteconomics.org/tools-and-stories/76

Downscaling the Donut at 4 levels in Brussels:
https://doughnuteconomics.org/stories/83

Amsterdam Circular by 2050 Initiative:
https://www.amsterdam.nl/en/policy/sustainability/circular-economy/

Amsterdam Doughnut Initiative: https://doughnuteconomics.org/amsterdam-portrait.pdf

Amsterdam bet on the Doughnut, other cities are now following suit:
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/03/25/amsterdam-brussels-bet-on-doughnut-economics-amid-covid-crisis.html

Amsterdam to embrace ‘doughnut’ model:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/08/amsterdam-doughnut-model-mend-post-coronavirus-economy

Amsterdam:
https://doughnuteconomics.org/stories/1

Short video of Kate’s presser after the first Portrait workshop (1:46):

How to use the City Portrait Canvas from the Thriving Cities Initiative (9:50):