Trend Watch, September 2016

The science of happy cities:

Happy City, a Canadian organisation, makes the case for retrofitting cities for happiness and argues that streets, parks, shopping centres, housing estates – most urban infrastructure – can be designed to make people feel happier, behave better and be kinder.

Their first tip: people are nicer to each other when they walk more slowly.

“If we give a damn about human wellbeing in cities, we need to study the emotional effects of spaces and systems,” says Charles Montgomery.

“We need to use evidence to help fix the horrific mistakes we’ve made over the last century.”

Read more at The Guardian.

Photo by Elizabeth Villalta on Unsplash.

Books loose on the rail:

Two Melbourne friends inspired by a UK idea of leaving novels on public transport for fellow bookworms to enjoy have taken their scheme nationwide.

Creators Ali Berg and Michelle Kalus have been “so blown away” by the positive feedback for Books on the Rail, they are starting the book sharing “everywhere…from Adelaide to Toowoomba.” Read more.

Six of the best social spaces around the world:

Cities contain key sites to which people gravitate, for trade, entertainment, celebration or recreation. Some public spaces have been at the heart of the community for centuries, while others are the result of recent efforts to make cramped urban centres feel more open and liveable.

If they get it right, the results can help define the character of a city. Dubai’s Vision Magazine compiles six of the best, according to six specialists.

Photo: Ricardo Andre Frantz, Wikimedia Commons.