Happy Cities is working with Entro to create a new community wayfinding strategy for the City of Richmond, BC.

In aspiring to become the region's creative hub, Fort St. John aims to ensure everyone can engage in arts and culture. Tasked with crafting its inaugural Arts & Culture Framework, Happy Cities will steer the city's efforts in supporting events, facilities, funding, and more over the next decade.

Indeed, some of the most creative ideas often originate from the youngest members of the community.

Temporary modular housing (TMH) offers a rapid, cost-effective solution for homelessness, with over 2,000 units built in British Columbia since 2017. However, prioritizing resident wellbeing is crucial for creating truly safe and supportive homes.

In 2021, the City of New Westminster initiated projects in the Uptown neighborhood to create safe, comfortable, and accessible walking, wheeling, and cycling corridors and public spaces for people of all ages and abilities.

Denser cities offer potential for stronger social networks but also pose challenges like overcrowding and loneliness, especially in multi-unit housing. Effective design and social programs can alleviate these issues and mitigate high living costs.

Cities can balance pandemic restrictions and outdoor enjoyment by ensuring ample space for activities.

COVID-19 hit Canada's main streets hard, with closures devastating small businesses. Immediate action is needed, but inclusive planning is crucial for safer, stronger, and more inclusive long-term improvements.

Mexico City boasts two of the world's largest urban parks: Chapultepec and San Juan de Aragon. These expansive parks feature green spaces, lush forests, and various amenities including playgrounds and skate parks, providing residents with ample opportunities for recreation and relaxation.

Happy Cities partnered with Superior, CO, to foster community unity through art and public spaces. "Inspired by Nature: Superior’s Creative Placemaking Master Plan" celebrates local identity and values.

Happy Cities collaborated with the City of Rotterdam to address mobility and public space needs in the Bloemhof neighborhood, focusing on marginalized groups. Through extensive on-site and remote engagement, we worked directly with residents to develop practical walkability solutions.

Public space in Vancouver isn't universally accessible; residents encounter barriers based on identity factors like race, gender, sexual orientation, age, income, and ability. Overlapping identities compound these challenges, affecting access, comfort, and safety in city spaces.

In fall 2018, Vancouver enlisted Happy Cities to evaluate its Pavement-to-Plaza initiative. Over 700 residents were surveyed in September 2018 at transformed plaza sites and control areas. The survey assessed subjective well-being factors like social connection, trust, care for place, and sense of belonging using academically-validated measures.

Multi-family housing complexes are urban hubs. Boosting sociability requires thoughtful design and community engagement, fostering stronger connections.

In summer 2016, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) initiated a transformative project to envision Vancouver's Granville Island in 2040. Despite its storied success as a hub where arts, industry, and surprises intersect, a refresh was necessary to ensure its continued relevance for the future.

The driving question behind this ambitious collaboration at the Museum of Vancouver, spearheaded by Happy Cities principal Charles Montgomery, alongside four other community partners and hundreds of participants…

We advocate that evidence on design's impact on happiness empowers designers, planners, and citizens to co-create better communities. Teaming up with Laboratorio para la Ciudad, an urban innovation lab, we applied this approach in a complex, contested district in Mexico City.