
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="820" height="1024" src="https://admin.happycities.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/happy-city-05-4big-820x1024.jpg" alt="Photo of the cover of the book &quot;Happy City: Transforming our Lives Through Urban Design&quot; by Charles Montgomery" class="wp-image-6114" srcset="https://admin.happycities.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/happy-city-05-4big-820x1024.jpg 820w, https://admin.happycities.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/happy-city-05-4big-240x300.jpg 240w, https://admin.happycities.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/happy-city-05-4big-768x959.jpg 768w, https://admin.happycities.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/happy-city-05-4big-1230x1536.jpg 1230w, https://admin.happycities.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/happy-city-05-4big-1640x2048.jpg 1640w, https://admin.happycities.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/happy-city-05-4big-40x50.jpg 40w" sizes="(max-width: 820px) 100vw, 820px" /></figure>



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<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><em>Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design</em></h3>



<p><strong>After decades of unchecked sprawl, more people than ever are moving back to the city. Dense urban living has been prescribed as a panacea for the environmental and resource crises of our time. But is it better or worse for our happiness? Are subways, sidewalks and tower dwelling an improvement on the car-dependence of sprawl?</strong></p>



<p>Award-winning journalist <a href="https://happycities.com/team/charles-montgomery" data-type="URL" data-id="https://happycities.com/team/charles-montgomery" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Charles Montgomery</a> finds answers to such questions at the intersection between urban design and the emerging science of happiness, during an exhilarating journey through some of the world’s most dynamic cities. He meets the visionary mayor who introduced a “sexy” lipstick-red bus to ease status anxiety in Bogotá; the architect who brought the lessons of medieval Tuscan hill towns to modern-day New York City; the activist who turned Paris’s urban freeways into beaches; and an army of American suburbanites who have transformed their lives by hacking the design of their streets and neighbourhoods.</p>



<p>Rich with history and new insights from psychology, neuroscience and Montgomery’s own urban experiments, <em>Happy City</em> is an essential tool for understanding and improving our own communities. The message is as surprising as it is hopeful: by retrofitting our cities for happiness, we can tackle the urgent challenges of our age. The happy city, the green city and the low-carbon city are the same place, and we can all help build it.</p>



<p><strong>Finalist:</strong> <em>Shaughnessy Bishop-Cohen Prize for Political Writing<br></em><strong>Finalist:</strong> <em>Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction<br></em><strong>Winner:</strong> <em>Robert Bruss Real Estate Book Awards<br></em><strong>Longlist:</strong> <em>Charles Taylor Prize for Non-fiction</em></p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Reviews</h2>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-style-default"><p>A brilliant, entertaining and vital book. Montgomery deftly leads us from our misplaced focus on money, cars and stuff to consider what makes us truly happy. Then everything changes–the way we live, work and play in humanity’s major habitat, the city.</p><cite><em>—David Suzuki</em></cite></blockquote>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>The place we live is key to our happiness. In Happy City, Charles Montgomery helps us understand why and provides a guidebook for living a happier, more fulfilling and meaningful life.</p><cite><em>—Richard Florida</em></cite></blockquote>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>It was only a matter of time before someone figured out that if there were new things to say about happiness and a new interest in the evolution of urban life, the two subjects could be linked together. That is what Charles Montgomery, a Canadian journalist, has set out to do in a book titled, logically enough, Happy City. To an admirable extent, he succeeds.</p><cite><em>—Alan Ehrenhalt, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/05/books/review/charles-montgomerys-happy-city.html?_r=0">New York Times</a></em></cite></blockquote>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Witty, erudite and intrepid, Charles Montgomery combines superb reportage with bold thinking to explore how one of our century’s defining creations, the megacity, need not be alarming or alienating. Refitting cities for sustainability, and for a new, necessary kind of ‘happiness’ may sound utopian, but Charles Montgomery builds a vision and argument out of real people, real situations, real solutions…. A philosophy of city that is also a philosophy of being–the deepest kind of urban design.</p><cite><em>—Jurors, <a href="http://www.writerstrust.com/Awards/Hilary-Weston-Writers-Trust-Prize/2014-Finalists/Charles-Montgomery.aspx">Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Non-fiction Prize</a> (Finalist)</em></cite></blockquote>



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote"><p>Montgomery writes with rare wit and erudition about the psychology of urban life. A wake-up call for citizens and planners alike, Happy City takes you by the scruff of the neck and shakes you into questioning everything around you. It not only shows us that we can and must make our cities better, but it tells us how.</p><cite><em>—Nicholas Humphrey</em></cite></blockquote>


Happy City, the book

photo of a busy pedestrian street area near transit in copenhagen, lined with buildings that have shops and restaurants at ground level. photo by jpellgen on Flickr.

The secret to vibrant streets? Focus on what people can see

colourful illustration showing people moving out of a building, a building under construction, and then residents moving back into the new, redeveloped building

How resident relocation policies can support wellbeing

photo of Surrey Civic Plaza on a sunny day, a central paved plaza space surrounded by civic buildings and including public seating and ping pong tables. Some people walk through or sit in the plaza

Zoning won’t create walkable suburbs on its own. But one great block might.

A happy cities pop-up engagement event in Newton, Surrey. The photo shows the Happy Cities tent set up next to a sports field and benches, with colourful bunting strung overhead

Community engagement and placemaking in Newton, Surrey

photo of a pop-up event for the regina accessibility plan at a Regina Pride event. people of many ages gather under an outdoor tent to share their thoughts. there is a colourful striped flag in the background

Regina accessibility plan

colourful isometric line diagram showing a dementia-friendly street corner and path. there is a community centre, safe streets, and a green open space with walking path, trees, benches, games, placemaking, and more.

Dementia-inclusive planning and design guidelines

Canadian Urban Institute / Institut Urban du Canada logo

UAE ministry of infrastructure development logo


<p>Happy Cities is an urban planning, design, and research firm. We turn evidence into action for healthier, happier and more inclusive communities.</p>


Graphic illustration of people socializing in a happy city

Based in Vancouver and Halifax, we work with cities, developers, and non-profits around the world to maximize the wellbeing impact of public spaces, streets, infrastructure, and housing.

Colourful illustration in a green circle to represent "healthy communities". A woman rides her bike in front of a neighbourhood building with trees lining the street.

Colourful illustration in a pink circle to represent "joyful spaces". Two people sit on a bench, one is giving flowers to the other. In the background, two kids play a building blocks game together

Colourful illustration in a blue circle to represent Happy Homes. The graphic shows a house with multiple rooms, where people do different activities such as growing plants. There is a family with two dads and two kids, and an elderly woman being helped by a younger person.

Colourful illustration in a green circle of two people sitting at a table and chatting together, to represent inclusive engagement, with a striped umbrella overhead. One of the people is using a wheelchar.

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<h4 class="wp-block-heading">Modern cities are facing a crisis of <a href="https://happycities.com/blog/crisis-of-social-disconnection" data-type="URL" data-id="https://happycities.com/blog/crisis-of-social-disconnection" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">social disconnection</a>.</h4>



<p class="main-text-bch">The way we design multi-family housing can nurture local social connections and trust. We’ve gathered evidence from psychology, neuroscience, public health and other fields to identify how design influences sociability in multi-family housing.</p>



<p class="main-text-bch">Use this visual toolkit to identify principles, strategies and actions to boost social wellbeing in multi-family housing.</p>



<p>Learn more about the crisis of social disconnection <a href="https://happycities.com/blog/crisis-of-social-disconnection" data-type="URL" data-id="https://happycities.com/blog/crisis-of-social-disconnection" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">here</a>.</p>



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<p class="subtitle">This toolkit was created with support from BC Housing Building Excellence Research &amp; Education Program, The School of Community and Regional Planning at the University of British Columbia, Mitacs, RNL Design, Museum of Vancouver and dozens of idea contributors.</p>


Happy Homes Interactive Toolkit

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Design principles for happy homes

We create healthier, happier, more inclusive communities.

Youth-led placemaking for safer streets

Deep engagement to understand walkability

Design principles for happy homes

We create healthier, happier, more inclusive communities.

Our team specializes in urban planning, design, engagement, and more.

Healthy Communities

Joyful Spaces

Happy Homes

Inclusive Engagement

Turning evidence into action

Community engagement and placemaking in Newton, Surrey

Regina accessibility plan

Dementia-inclusive planning and design guidelines

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The secret to vibrant streets? Focus on what people can see

How resident relocation policies can support wellbeing

Zoning won’t create walkable suburbs on its own. But one great block might.

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