Celebrating 10 years of Happy City
Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design, by Charles Montgomery, first published in 2013.
This November, our team celebrated 10 years since the publishing of the book (and our namesake) Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design, written by our founder, Charles Montgomery. Since 2013, the book has been translated into a dozen languages, and it has changed the conversation about urban design around the world. But my relationship with Happy City is personal. It has transformed my life and propelled me into a career and role I couldn’t dream of. Here is my rollercoaster of a story.
Editor's note: What's your Happy City story? Send us a short 100-300 word writeup and we'll compile a short selection to share on our website. Full instructions at the bottom of this page.
My Happy City story
I was a total mess in 2013. Two years earlier, my home country, Egypt, went through a people-led uprising to end the 30-year rule of President Mubarak. I had moved back from Canada to help rebuild my country, only for my aspirations to be cut short by a sudden, violent regime change. Okay, change of plans.
I was back in Halifax. No job. No school. No plan. But the time I spent in Egypt had changed me profoundly. Doing grassroots work in Cairo, visiting communities I had never stepped into before, helped me see the massive gap in quality of life between classes. I saw communities where dozens of households share bathrooms. Where a jumbled network of crowded minibuses was often the best option to get around, even if it took hours to get to work each day. I understood that decisions about how we build our cities can hurt our wellbeing. I saw my privilege but also my responsibility. I wanted to do something about it, but I didn’t know where to start.
That was until I came across an article in the Guardian titled, “The secrets of the world’shappiest cities.” I later learned it was a sneak peak of Happy City. I immediately ordered the book and read it in a personal record of four days. I was hooked. The book talked about how concrete and bricks can make us happy or miserable. It addressed the systemic issues that plagued cities like Cairo—and showed examples of ways out, such as the story of Bogotá and its TransMilenio program, which cut people’s commutes from two hours to 30 minutes. Bogotá’s challenges before its transformation were so similar to my hometown of Cairo. I felt like Neo after he discovered the Matrix: I could now see into the code makeup of my cities.
I searched the internet until I could find Charles’ email and wrote to him, saying, “I don’t care what you’re doing, or how much you pay me, I want to do this work with you.” He replied shortly after and told me he was coming to Halifax for a keynote, and that he could use some help researching the city. I jumped to help (for the record, he did pay me, and adequately, despite my poor negotiating skills). When Charles came to the city, introduced by our mayor, he spoke to all the frustrations I felt living in Halifax, like our over-dependence on cars and the state of our beloved, but underused, Citadel Hill.
Happy City never left me. Obsessed with the idea of citizens taking control of their own happiness, I started volunteering my time with local urbanism groups. I helped design and implement new placemaking interventions. I worked with a team that was installing swing sets all over the city. I advocated for better bus service and worked with a group of volunteers to develop a citizen-led transit plan. Back in Egypt, I co-founded a transportation consultancy, Transport for Cairo, to stay connected with my home despite not being able to live there anymore. With every project I tried to do, I snapped pictures and sent them to Charles. I like to think I wore him down. Because a few months later, he asked me to work with him on a long-term research project.
Meanwhile, interest in Happy City was exploding around the world. Along with sustainability specialist Omar Dominguez, Charles launched the consultancy now known as Happy Cities. I joined the team. We began turning the book’s ideas into action. This idea—that cities should make us happier and healthier—expanded from Charles’ book into the hearts and souls of everyone who helped build this company. We solidified it into our mission statement. We set our values. And we made the journey our own.
In West Palm Beach, we studied the psychophysiological effects of public space. In London, we created a wellbeing framework for British Land, the UK’s biggest property developer, which helped transform spaces like Paddington Central:
Kingdom Street in Paddington Central, 2015. (Happy Cities)
Kingdom Street in Paddington Central, 2017, after repaving, landscaping, and vehicle speed controls. (Happy Cities)
We worked on projects in India, Mexico, USA, Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates. But ultimately, we returned our focus back home in Canada, working with communities all the way from rural Nova Scotia to Vancouver, where our first office took shape.
Today, Happy Cities represents so much more than the book that inspired us. It is a vehicle for the ideas and passion of every person who has worked on our team over the past decade. We have delivered actionable research. We created innovative ways of engaging with traditionally excluded communities, and making public engagement fun. We’ve infused pro-social design into public spaces, housing, and communities. We became a B Corp to embody the values we want to foster in the world. And we have really enjoyed our time along the way.
As for me, I grew from being lost and unemployed, to taking over as Managing Principal when Charles stepped down in 2022 to write his new book (yes, new book, we’re excited too!).
Happy City motivated so many of us because it speaks to how cities touch our souls, our feelings, and how they can shape our lives in ways we couldn’t imagine. It reminds city builders that we have to do our work from the heart, because the decisions we make have a profound impact on people’s lives.
I haven’t yet been able to achieve my ultimate dream: to help transform Cairo into a happier, healthier, more inclusive city. Frankly, I don’t know if I ever will. But I feel, at least, if the time ever comes, I may have something to offer. In the meantime, I can enjoy helping cities across the world. And I get to do it with an amazing team that inspires me every day.
P.S. If you haven’t read the book yet, what are you waiting for? Get your copy now from your local bookstore.
Share your Happy City story
What brought you to Happy City? What is your connection to building happier, healthier communities? We want to hear your story. Send us a 100- to 300-word writeup on your connection to the book, Happy City, and we’ll compile a short selection to share on our website.
We are deeply grateful for the ever-growing Happy Cities community we have built over the past 10 years. As a small token of our thanks, we’ll select one person who writes in their story to win a signed copy of Happy City! (We’ll also throw in an official Happy Cities swag item).
Please email your short submission to stories@happycities.com.
