Happy Cities

Some news: We've decided to release our award-winning Public Life Study tool today, for free! Download the tool today to get started: https://lnkd.in/gJ8N5SYA Why? We know intuitively that shared spaces are critical to our health and wellbeing. But we often lack the data to understand why a particular space is working or not, or whether it is truly inclusive of everyone in a community. Many years ago, we developed a unique Public Life Study tool to start answering these questions. In short, it offers a flexible, low-barrier method for community organizations, planners, and residents to measure changes in health, happiness, and inclusion in shared spaces. We spent years developing and refining the methodology, working with cities from Vancouver to Halifax to measure the impacts of big and small changes, like transforming a street block into a public plaza, or adding a summer events program to a shared space. But we haven’t yet seen impact we want to create. Our Public Life Studies have helped city staff tweak and improve public space projects. But it's not just cities who are doing this work. Many community organizations don't have the resources to hire researchers to assess the great work they are doing. They see impactful changes and hear positive feedback from community members. But funders—and municipalities—often want hard data before they will invest more in community-led projects. We’re releasing our method for free to help gather more evidence on wellbeing in #publicspaces, and to build the case for more placemaking. Because great public spaces are for everyone. #happycities #happycity #placesforpeople #publicspace #placemaking Evergreen Canada Canadian Urban Institute (CUI) Canadian Institute of Planners PlacemakingX Project for Public Spaces Social Life Project Placemaking Canada

Do you remember the spaces where you played outside as a child? And how can shared spaces support mental and physical health at all ages? In group discussions with Canada's Placemaking Community this summer, we've been connecting with placemakers from coast to coast to hear about the connections between shared places and community wellbeing. We heard diverse ways that placemaking can enhance both mental and physical health—whether building shared spaces for play and connection, improving walkability, or creating connections with nature. This article is the first in a five-part series sharing what we've learned. From a bike park in Montreal, to school streets in Vancouver, to a nature-based education program in New Brunswick, this article shares learnings about how placemaking initiatives support mental and physical health in our communities: https://lnkd.in/gVc_3HVv

Looking to understand how people feel and act in public spaces? Download the Happy Cities Public Life Study tool to find out! Here’s how it works: ○ 1) Download the free tool: https://lnkd.in/gJ8N5SYA ○ 2) Choose one or more spaces you want to study ○ 3) Do your Public Life Study ○ 4) Share your results!

Looking to understand how people feel and act in public spaces? Download our free Public Life Study tool to find out! Here’s how it works: 1️⃣ Download the free tool: https://lnkd.in/gJ8N5SYA 2️⃣ Choose one or more spaces you want to study  3️⃣ Do your Public Life Study 4️⃣ Share your results! Explore how the tool can help measure the impact of placemaking in your community: https://lnkd.in/gJ8N5SYA #happycities #happycity #placemaking #placesforpeople #publicspace

Happy Cities has released its award-winning Public Life Study tool for free! Download the tool today to measure the impacts of your public space on happiness, trust, and inclusion: https://lnkd.in/gJ8N5SYA 

"If you want to get popular with your crowd online, be a jerk. But if you want to build a broad coalition, cut it out." Tristan Cleveland, PhD explores why, if we're serious about changing cities for the better, we need to start by listening to those who disagree with us. Here's why: https://lnkd.in/gkn6cEmu

We're hiring! We're looking for a talented Urban Planner and Engagement Specialist to join our growing team in Vancouver. Community engagement is a core component of all of our projects, and we work hard to reach and hear from the diverse voices in the communities we serve. We believe that engagement should provide value for participants and not just extract information from them. Our engagement approaches offer fun, educational, and inclusive ways for people to give input in city planning processes. Are you passionate about listening to community voices and creating meaningful ways for people to give input? Or do you know someone who would be a great fit? We invite you to join us in our mission to help redefine public engagement and make it more inclusive—and more fun. Please apply and learn more on Indeed: https://lnkd.in/gpEcN9_B Deadline to apply is July 3. Planning Institute of British Columbia (PIBC)

"After many years of opposing densification, I think people are really understanding that it's their own children or their grandchildren who can't afford to live in the neighbourhoods that they grew up in." We had a great conversation last month with the project team and community behind Our Urban Village, a new "cohousing lite" development in Vancouver. We also heard important questions like: ♿ How does the community support accessibility and aging in place? 🏡 How can we make these innovative projects available to lower-income residents? 💥 And what happens when conflict arises in cohousing? A big thank you to Marianne Amodio, Leslie Shieh, Rodrigo Alba, Kathy Sayers—and the 100+ participants who joined the conversation and asked thoughtful questions to our panelists. Here's a recap of the discussion, and a link to the webinar recording: https://lnkd.in/g8QWFjKV MA+HG Architects Tomo Spaces

The province of BC is changing how cities build housing—more units per lot, higher density near transit, faster approval processes, more funding for affordable housing. But what do all these changes mean for communities? Will denser development make our neighbourhoods more liveable, or less? Our take: New #housing rules from the province are a good start to creating more resilient, healthy communities. But upzoning alone is not enough. Policy needs to equally create places where everyone can access a range of housing options, connect with neighbours, and meet their daily needs close to home. So what do these denser neighbourhoods look like, and how do we plan for them? Our latest article outlines three proven ideas to ensure that more density really does contribute to happier, more inclusive places: 1️⃣ Design walkable neighbourhoods to unlock the benefits of density 2️⃣ Prioritize diverse affordable housing options 3️⃣ Make it easier to design socially connected housing Here's how: https://lnkd.in/gmJSBEt3 Article originally published in Planning West by Planning Institute of British Columbia (PIBC), together with Hey Neighbour Collective. #happycities #happycity #BChousing #housingpolicy #housingdevelopment #urbandensity #urbanwellbeing

We used to be good at building great streets. What changed? Today, when we build shops and offices, they rarely add up to a good place, writes Tristan Cleveland, PhD. Many urban areas are defined by empty grass and asphalt. These streets discourage people from walking or socializing, with terrible consequences for sustainability, health, and happiness. How do we fix this problem? Our latest story outlines how to make great street design everyone's responsibility. Read the full story: https://lnkd.in/gmADjgkb #happycities #happycity #streetdesign #walkability #urbanplanning