The Future School
HAPPY CITY
Dates: TBA 2025
Limited Space. Apply early.
Early Decision: TBA, 2025
Application Deadline: TBA
Happy City Prague : Criteria for Urban Well-being
What should a city accomplish, after it meets our basic needs of food, shelter, and security? ‘Smart Cities’ have been defined as those with efficient use of physical and communication infrastructure, and sustainable economic development. ‘Happy Cities’ might be defined as all that, and with… heart and soul.
Prague serves as a beautiful laboratory to investigate what it takes to be a Happy City. With its many parks, riverside activities, markets, walkable neighborhoods, cafes, pubs, theaters, playgrounds, public art, and museums and galleries, and excellent public transportation with its extensive tram, metro and bus systems, does Prague qualify to be labeled a Happy City?
Strategy: Participation and Action
With sustainability as the defining framework for the study of Happy Cities, The Future School works with a diverse team of trans-disciplinary specialists–that can include academics, urban planners, environmentalists, engineers, architects, economists, politicians, government and NGO agencies, community activists, sociologists, businesses, health professionals, industries, journalists, artists and more, to gain an holistic perspective on the living city–what is working and what needs changing. Then, participants are able to comprehend the intricate network of factors that make a city happy., and what they need to do to implement the necessary changes.