Implementing Alternative Economic Development Approaches: The Possibilities and Limits of “Pick and Mix”

Urban policymakers are adopting “alternative” economic development approaches such as doughnut economics and the circular economy as part of efforts to address ecological challenges in parallel to concerns about enduring social and economic inequalities. These alternative approaches are often combined in “pick-and-mix” fashion in efforts to realize complementary and mutually reinforcing benefits; mobilize diverse actors, including citizens and politicians, around plural visions of change; and address a range of city-specific challenges. However, a prerequisite for “picking and mixing” different approaches successfully is careful consideration of the logic of these approaches and how they might be put into practice alongside each other. We draw on Sabato’s notion of the eco-social-growth trilemma to suggest a need to surface potential tensions, especially when combining approaches that have different emphases on the synergies or trade-offs between economic (growth), ecological, and social objectives. The paper concludes by proposing a decision-making framework to enable policymakers to harness tensions productively by exploring and articulating the possibilities and limits of a “pick-and-mix” approach.