Creating happier, healthier, more inclusive communities.
Socially connected places boost happiness and resilience.
18+ studies on how public spaces, neighbourhoods, and homes shape social connection.
We help clients implement change through:
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We collaborate with academic researchers and industry professionals to bridge the gap between research and practice. Our research projects include:
Public Life Studies: Measure the impact of public space transformations on community connection, belonging, and trust.
Post-occupancy evaluations: Understand how design impacts social connection, health, and belonging in homes, offices, and community facilities.
Neighbourhood social infrastructure: 80+ metrics for designing and auditing connected neighbourhoods.
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Our work combines deep community engagement with original research and proprietary assessment tools—to create plans and policy that reflect both best practice and lived experience.
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We meet people at neighbourhood events and gathering places to reach people in 13+ languages. We facilitate complex conversations to clarify shared values and build trust with community members—and government.
What we do:
Social infrastructure that matches growth.
Measure and plan for social infrastructure as your community grows—and understand where new investments can have the greatest impact.
Downtowns and main streets that people keep coming back for.
Cultivate economically successful, vibrant, people-centred places for small towns and resort communities—while managing access, visitors, and traffic.
Homes that connect people.
Craft incentive structures, design guidelines, and site plans that nurture social connection, health, and resilience for diverse residents—without hurting affordability.
“Happy Cities was a dream to work with. The quality of research, analysis, written submissions and field work was consistently high. A true partner in our ambitious pursuits!”
—Lisa Leblanc, Director of Engineering, City of New Westminster
50+ cities. 8 countries.
We’ve built trust with government, nonprofit, and private sector clients around the world.
Read the book that started it all
Explore the intersection between urban design and the emerging science of happiness, with stops in some of the world’s most dynamic cities.