Happy Cities is spearheading community engagement and conducting design reviews to optimize well-being at Mary Anne’s Place, a forthcoming mixed-use development in Port Moody, BC.

In response to Metro Vancouver's housing crisis, British Columbia announced new legislation in November 2023. This includes legalizing three to six units per lot province-wide and designating areas near rapid transit stations as "transit-oriented development" zones. Cities in these areas must allow taller residential buildings and eliminate parking minimums.

Happy Cities has dedicated over a decade to researching the connections between urban design and well-being. Our efforts culminated in a cutting-edge community assessment tool. This tool evaluates four design realms and tracks over 80 evidence-based criteria to gauge a project's impact on well-being.

In January 2019, the United Arab Emirates introduced a pioneering national community design policy, aiming to create happier, healthier communities across the country.

Happy Cities collaborated with Colorado partners to conduct a Happy Mapping Audit at the Clear Creek School District site in Idaho Springs. This initiative is part of the town's efforts to explore opportunities for economic diversification and expanding its tax base.

British Land, the UK’s largest real estate investment trust, is committed to improving wellbeing through its development and placemaking practices. We helped the company to pursue this aspiration through a collaborative program of research, recommendations, site audits and workshops.

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.