Can Cities Make Us Happier?

Borys writes:

"In most physical and policy planning, triple bottom line benchmarks focus on environment and economy, and tend to skim over the subject of society. That's probably because urban design impacts are much easier to measure with respect to profit and planet than they are with respect to people."

"Now, we're starting to get our arms around some of the bigger public health issues connecting society with the built environment, particularly on the obesity, diabetes and depression fronts. Proponents of gross national happiness to augment gross national product would like to see our society focused on conserving instead of consuming and connectivity instead of distrust.

Still, how do we measure national happiness, well-being, and social capital as they relate to the way we plan our neighbourhoods, towns and cities?"

Thanks to Hazel Borys