There will be no unequivocal answer — rather, an endless set of subjective opinions. Social urbanists face a seemingly insurmountable task: while maintaining a balance of interests, develop a road map that will make our lives in cities happier. It is for this that analysts form ratings and reports from statistical data, analyze existing city models into thousands of small details. So that we can then choose what we personally like.
Restaurant Oslo Mekaniske Verksted. Photo: Tord Baklund.
Image source: visitoslo.com
Smiling faces, children's laughter, birds singing, the murmur of water, the scent of flowers, the smell of muffins and freshly ground coffee, the opportunity to drink a glass of wine or beer with a view of the sunset, beautiful architecture - no matter how different our happy moments and ideas of happiness are, something from the list will always be common to the majority.
Attempts to translate the holistic philosophy of happiness into a set of practical recommendations are called by pessimists the most popular utopia of the XNUMXst century. They are opposed by a cohort of optimists, who are sure that digital data and new research models will finally allow a sufficiently representative assessment of such a subjective concept as happiness, or at least the quality of life and well-being. From fiction, the topic of the search for happiness moved to economic reports and urban planning documents. And even the evaluation of society's well-being, which is traditionally based on consumption statistics, is proposed by innovators to be replaced by a "happiness index".
In 2019, Finland was recognized as the happiest country in the world, and Ukraine took 133rd place on the list
Goodbye, GDP, hello, happiness!
The small kingdom of Bhutan was the initiator of replacing the usual criterion for assessing the development of countries and cities, GDP, with the "happiness index". The term "gross national happiness" was introduced in Bhutan back in 1972 and a whole ministry of the same name was founded. Then it was an isolated underdeveloped country. Since then, Bhutan has not changed much, except that it has become a little more open to tourists.
However, the inhabitants of the kingdom, deprived of many of the benefits of civilization that we are used to, confidently declare that they are almost universally happy and satisfied with everything. In 2012, the United Nations, at the request of Bhutan, released the first world report on happiness, which combined all the information available at that time and a scientific review of the relationship between urban planning and economic policy and the feeling of happiness.
Since that time, for seven years in a row, the UN's Sustainable Development Solutions Division has released the "Report on World Happiness", in which 156 countries are evaluated by how happy their citizens are. In 2019, Finland was recognized as the happiest country in the world, and Ukraine took 133rd place on the list.
The new approach fundamentally changes the ways of evaluating the actions of the heads of state and the success of the government in general and, as a result, can provoke tectonic shifts in world politics. The fact that skepticism about "happiness ratings" in politics is still a variant of the norm, while open criticism of them is perceived almost as sabotage and spit in the face of civilized humanity, indicates that the process has already started.
Evaluating the state of countries, cities and the activities of politicians through the prism of happiness is not just a trend, but part of global politics. The latest report of the international organization Global Happiness Council — Global Happiness and Well-being Policy Report (GHWPR) was presented at the World Government Summit on February 10, 2019 in Dubai.
As one of the report's authors, Professor Geoffrey Sachs, said in his foreword: “We have long known that GDP per capita is not an adequate measure of social well-being. We now have rigorous and tested alternatives for measuring happiness and well-being, and public policies that can successfully increase them."
We have long known that GDP per capita is not an adequate measure of social well-being
According to the IMF, world production (and therefore world income) in 2018 was $135 trillion — taking purchasing power into account. If you divide this amount by the 7,7 billion inhabitants of the planet, you get $17500 each. US per person. But the era of prosperity has not arrived, and the reason is the great inequality in the distribution of global incomes. "The world has never been so rich!" - the authors of the report claim and summarize that the unregulated desire for economic growth is the reason for the emergence of new forms of unhappiness.
The Global Happiness and Well-being Policy Report (GHWPR) is interesting in that its authors, although they admit that none of the research methods for measuring the level of happiness can be called completely adequate and representative, give a number of practical recommendations for creating happy cities. The framework of the umbrella model proposed by GHWPR consists of six areas: health, education, work, personal happiness, cities, and metrics of well-being and happiness in society.
Jeffrey D. Sachs, co-author of the World Happiness Report 2019 and Happiness and Well-being Policy Report 2019, director of the Global Happiness Council, SDSN and the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, USA
So, for example, evaluating the quality of health care through the prism of happiness with a high degree of probability will lead to an increase in budgets for the support of mental health of citizens, palliative medicine and pain relief. Education should become "positive" and emphasize that students get the joy of creation, creativity and satisfaction from the thinking process.
The work should bring not only the economic success of the company, but also the satisfaction of the employees, while maintaining a balance between personal life and employment. Personal happiness is the most subjective category, which includes both health and the possibility of self-realization.
The Happy Cities Algorithm is an overview of 6 aspects of urban design, such as urban planning, contact with nature, mobility, sustainability, culture and quality of services. The algorithm itself can be considered as a set of practical recommendations for urban planners and public activists. It is this point that belongs to the sphere of our interests.
Recommendations of the Global Happiness and Well-being Policy Report (GHWPR) from the Global Happiness Council (GHC)
Designing happy cities:
- Urban Design & Place Making. Ensure that sound urban planning and urban design practices, such as transit-oriented mixed-use development, are promoted and encouraged. Take steps to increase the sense of community and follow the guidelines for creating public spaces.
- Nature. Increase the amount of green and blue spaces of all scales, including small ones like rooftops. Increase opportunities for contact with nature for citizens.
- Mobility. Ensure that residents and visitors have access to a variety of modes of transport, reduce dependency on cars, spread the word that using public transport reduces costs.
- Sustainability & Partnership. To achieve a long-term and sustainable increase in the level of happiness in the city, officials and politicians must cooperate with community organizations, activists and residents interested in improving the quality of life.
- The culture. City managers should actively promote cultural events: both directly by acting as organizers and indirectly by supporting public activists.
- Quality of service. City managers must ensure high quality of city-wide services, user-oriented digital services, and strive for maximum ease of use and accessibility standards.
Launching Happy Cities:
- Trust. Strengthen the relationship of trust between city residents and authorities by increasing engagement and transparency.
- Security and protection. Improvement of actual security and subjective sense of security is possible due to the expansion of initiatives aimed at creating more open and well-lit places.
- Accessibility. Ensure the construction of affordable housing for all sections of society by increasing the diversity of housing types and various methods of financing.
- Tolerance and inclusiveness. Ensure equal access opportunities for all categories of the population.
- Health & Life Balance. Promote a healthy lifestyle, encourage active travel, and a lifestyle with a smart work-life balance.
- Sociability. Build community connections and good neighborliness at all levels. Provide opportunities for people to meet and communicate more often, actively fight loneliness.
- Economy and skills. Help people take an active part in the development of the city's economy by instilling skills in learning and education, and encourage employment and business initiatives.
- Significance and belonging. Promote common values, develop the experience and significance of the role of residents in society and on a city-wide scale. Use cultural events to integrate new residents and migrants into society.
To define the cities that best meet the very vague criteria of "happiness", the authors of the GHWPR report suggest using the wording socially-smart. Here, social orientation comes to the fore, displacing efficiency.
Work should bring satisfaction to employees, while there should be a balance between personal life and employment
Progressive cities form public participatory budgets for these purposes, allocating part of the funds from the municipal treasury and replenishing them with the help of private donations. Activists and volunteers are involved in the implementation of urban and cultural initiatives. For example, in the Brazilian city of Porto Alegre with a population of 1,5 million people, the participatory budget is about $200 million. For comparison: the public budget of Kyiv, where 2,94 million people officially live, for 2019 is 150 million hryvnias!
Vienna is the unchanging leader of happiness ratings
For the past 7 (!) years, Vienna has been leading the Quality of Living Survey — a ranking of world cities by quality of life, which is compiled annually by the Mercer consulting agency. This fact forces us to delve into the study of the "Vienna model" in detail.
The former imperial capital now aspires to become not just a global city, but a city with the best living conditions, one might say ideal. And not from the point of view of tourists, who sometimes call Vienna "boring", but primarily from the point of view of the residents themselves.
The summer venue of the popular Viennese Clementine restaurant at the Palais Coburg hotel. Photo source: wien.info
A politically and socially safe environment, a high-quality health care system are definitely the cornerstones of comfort. But there are dozens of more subtle urban vectors, soft factors, which do not allow Vienna to be encapsulated in the "bourgeois city-museum" format, but force it to develop dynamically enough to keep up with global urban trends.
At the same time, urban planners approach the reforms in a balanced way, which allows to avoid serious shocks and dissatisfaction among the population. Thus, Vienna bypassed "Brusselization", and the city preserved and adapted to the modern lifestyle a rich historical architectural heritage. Today, just under 2 million people live in the capital of Austria. At the same time, buildings occupy only 11,4% of the city's area, while public parks cover more than 28%.
It is not by chance that Vienna's public transport system is considered one of the best in the world - during peak hours, transport operates stably at 90-second intervals, and routes (28 trams and 128 buses) evenly cover the center and suburbs. The Vienna Metro is actively developing: in September 2017, 5 new stations were opened, from Reumannplatz to Oberlaa, and the construction of the new U5 line is planned in the near future. Its first stations should open in 2023. At the same time, the authorities are trying to regulate the use of private vehicles, supporting the Car-Free City Life trend.
For the past 7 years, Vienna has been leading the Quality of Living Survey rating of the Mercer agency
A single ticket is valid for all types of city transport, including the metro. In 2015, the Central Railway Station Wien Hauptbahnhof was opened, which brought together all railway routes and is conveniently connected to the U-Bahn. The new station on the site of the old Südbahnhof and Ostbahnhof railway stations was designed by Theo Hotz Architects and Planners.
The implementation of a large-scale infrastructure project made it possible to free up more than 30 hectares of space almost in the center of the city, on which the new residential area Sonnwendviertel is being built with houses for 13 thousand residents, a park and an educational campus.
Wien Hauptbahnhof, Vienna's new central train station, opened in 2015. Photo: Christian Hofer
About a third of the apartments in the new Sonnwendviertel are municipal. The authorities of Vienna continue to adhere to the housing policy that was formed by the Social Democrats in the first half of the XNUMXth century. The first housing estates of the Hemeindebau municipal housing, built during the era of Red Vienna, were designed by both famous and young architects, followers of Otto Wagner and graduates of the Bauhaus school.
Some buildings gravitate towards the imperial style or Secession - in any case, they cannot be called "typical". The most famous building, which is often mentioned as a monument to the social democratic system, is the Karl Marx Hof, a building 1100 m long, containing 1300 apartments. Municipal housing intended for proletarians, built at the beginning and middle of the last century, is comfortable even by today's standards.
Some houses have rooftop pools and interior gardens and look very bourgeois in our eyes. In 1949, the rule "Art in construction" was introduced in Vienna, which stipulates that a part of the budget for the construction of a municipal building is allocated to its decoration. It can be frescoes, mosaics, stained glass windows - in short, what gives the building its individuality.
Vienna's public transport system is considered one of the best in the world
The monthly rent of municipal apartments is twice or even three times lower than the average market rent from a private owner, but in order to qualify for municipal housing, a number of criteria must be met. According to Statistik Austria, the average rent in Vienna, including operating costs, was €2018 per square meter in the third quarter of 7,9. m or 518,7 euros for an apartment for rent.
In total, there are about a million apartments in Vienna, of which almost half belong to the municipality or are owned by building societies. By the way, the lack of affordable housing, according to the 2019 GHWPR report, is the main obstacle to happiness. In Vienna, this problem was practically solved.
Municipal housing Vienna: The Alt-Erlaa complex was built between 1973 and 1985 for low-income citizens. Three cascading blocks with a height of 23-27 floors accommodate 3200 family apartments (mostly three-bedroom). Each of the apartments from the 1st to the 12th floor has an open green terrace. The project was developed by the architects of Harry Glück & Partner, Kurt Hlaweniczka and Requat & Reinthaller. Photo: Rafael Wiedenmeier/Getty Images
Having formulated the main goal-horizon for 2050 as "The best quality of life for all Viennese residents with the minimum consumption of resources", formal and informal urban planners improve the city by focusing on satisfying the interests of different social and gender groups. For example, the consideration of gender issues has had an unexpected impact on urban planning.
Back in 1996, the city authorities decided to find out why there are many more boys than girls among children playing in parks? It turned out that boys and girls have different ideas about the comfort of playgrounds: for example, girls rarely play on fenced sports grounds, preferring cozy semi-enclosed park areas. A small study gave a start to serious reforms, which are not limited to the modernization of parks.
In Vienna, the problem of providing citizens with affordable housing was practically solved
The Women-Work-City housing complex was even built with residential buildings surrounded by spacious and green yards. All paths are wide enough for families to walk together, the absence of barriers and stairs allows you to move freely with a stroller. The complex includes a kindergarten, a pharmacy and a family doctor's office.
In 1999, the municipality conducted a survey of residents on accessibility and mobility. The most complaints were expressed by women. In their opinion, the streets of Vienna were not sufficiently well lit in the evenings, not sufficiently "barrier-free" and not sufficiently safe.
Based on the information received, more than 60 projects aimed at making sidewalks, transport, infrastructure and recreational areas more convenient for women and women with children were implemented. It is not for nothing that David Byrne, author of the book "The Whole World Notes of a motorist", noted that children can be considered an indicator of the quality of the urban environment: "A city that is good for children is good for everyone."
At the top of each of the 27-storey cascading blocks of the Alt-Erlaa municipal housing complex is an outdoor swimming pool. Photo source: i.pinimg.com
Social integration and mobility are key factors for a high quality of life for the elderly, so the authorities in Vienna pay maximum attention to the care of the older generation. At the same time, doing a lot to make the city attractive for young people.
The average rent in Vienna in the third quarter of 2018 was 7,9 euros per square meter. m
Rejuvenation of demographics in Vienna is mainly the merit of higher education. According to the Vienna Business Agency, more than 190 students from all over the world live on the Vienna campuses. And the annual Pioneers international festival gathers more than 2500 young entrepreneurs, investors and company representatives from more than 70 countries. The idea of the event is to ensure the synergy of the latest technologies and business.
A playground for adults (Motorikpark) in the Helmut-Zilk-Park, located in the Viennese residential area Sonnwendviertel. Photo source: redsearch.org
And although Austria is not as open to receiving migrants as, for example, Germany, it willingly accepts young representatives of the creative class, including Ukrainians.
"Creativity and creative professions in Vienna are supported and subsidized by the state and various foundations. There is even a simplified scheme for obtaining a residence permit for persons who have contributed to the cultural space of Vienna, - says Hanna, who worked as the head of an art studio in Kyiv for 10 years, and now opened an art studio in the Austrian capital. — Yes, another language, laws, but your success depends not on corrupt officials, not on the presence of patrons in power, but on tenacity, purposefulness and talents. And the environment — both social and urban — is very favorable. All residents of Vienna are socially protected, and this is probably the basis of the highest quality of life here."
More than 190 students from all over the world live on the Viennese campuses
As part of the Citizen Science program, Austrians are trying to improve conditions not only for people, but also for urban animals, birds and insects. For example, recommendations have been developed for architects on the arrangement of barnacles not only in new buildings, but also ways of adapting decorative consoles on historic buildings to make them available for nesting birds.
Another initiative, which is also successful among townspeople and especially among local schoolchildren, is the establishment of houses for insects. Citizen Science compiles detailed interactive maps of protected natural zones and biotopes, informs citizens and tourists in detail about how not to harm nature, teaches waste management, etc.
Library and study center on the campus of the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU). The planning schemes of the campus were developed by the architectural collective BUSarchitektur. The buildings of the library and the educational center were designed by Zaha Hadid Architects. The opening of the campus took place in 2013. The total budget of the project is 492 million euros. Image source: wien.info
Oslo is the green capital of Europe 2019
In the World Happiness Report 2019, Norway ranked third. And Oslo is consistently among the ten best cities in the world, albeit the most expensive. It is in Oslo that the international conference URBAN FUTURE will be held in the summer of this year — the largest event in Europe dedicated to the sustainable development of cities. Also, Oslo became the European Green Capital of 2019.
An old pier left as a reminder of the past of the Barcode neighborhood in Bjørvika, Oslo. Barcode is the result of a large-scale renovation project of a post-industrial area. Several international architectural studios, selected as a result of the competition, were engaged in the planning of the quarter. Projects of multi-purpose high-rise buildings were developed by A-lab, MVRDV, Dark Arkitekter, Snøhetta, Solheim & Jacobsen. The construction was completed in 2016, and work on spot improvement of the territory and improvement of the urban landscape continues today. Image source: oygunnen / Foap / Visitnorway.com
Since the mid-2000s, Oslo has grown faster than any other city in Europe. Norway has passed the financial crisis, and thanks to the growing birth rate, increased life expectancy and record immigration, the population of Oslo alone has grown to 700 people.
Successes in the competition for the economic well-being and happiness of the countries of Northern Europe and Norway, in particular, are usually associated with the "Protestant work ethic", which for centuries formed the moral foundations and ordered to work conscientiously, honestly and for the good of society. It is all the more interesting to find out exactly how the residents of Oslo relax and spend their leisure time today.
In the summer, local residents of Oslo swim and hold canoe races
In the invitations to URBAN FUTURE, Oslo guests are strongly recommended to support the tradition of utepils. Literally, it means "drinking beer on the street", that is, enjoying the sun and the atmosphere of general well-being, sitting at the tables of numerous street cafes placed along the sidewalks. From this summer, cars will no longer stand in the way of the beautiful tradition of utepils — the city center will remain at the complete disposal of pedestrians and cyclists.
A few years ago, the Oslo authorities decided that starting in 2019, the center would be closed to private traffic, and the area previously occupied by parking lots would be given over to red bike lanes and places for street cafes. To encourage "cycling" as soon as possible, the municipality of Oslo even gave discounts of 500 and 1000 euros to citizens who buy bicycles and cargo bikes.
A floating sauna in the Oslo Fjord opposite the new Snøhetta-designed opera house. Image credit: VisitOSLO/Didrick Stenersen
A bakery built by enthusiasts from the Flatbread Society in the Losjeter garden on the outskirts of Oslo. Photo: Losæter. Image source: VisitOSLO
The "grassroots" initiatives of local residents caused the appearance of a whole infrastructure of "floating saunas" in Oslo. First, a group of anarchists—as they called themselves—set up a small sauna on a raft in the inner harbor. The "Seagull" raft instantly became popular among fans of winter swimming. And within a few months, dozens of saunas on a raft were floating on the water in the Oslo Fjord. In the summer, local residents enjoy swimming and hold canoe races.
The phased implementation of the Fjordbyen municipal project has turned Oslo's waterfront into a multicultural zone
It is fair to note that all these water activities became possible after the city authorities implemented large-scale water purification projects in the Oslo harbor. Almost a million cubic meters of toxic sludge was raised and removed from the bottom of the fjord. And as part of the installation of the Midgardsormen wastewater treatment system, the city's water supply and sewage system was completely updated in 6 years (2009-2015).
The budget of the Midgardsormen project amounted to 133 million euros. The phased implementation of the Fjordbyen municipal project has transformed Oslo's waterfront into a multicultural area with promenades, museums and a new opera house designed by Snøhetta. The construction of the new Munch Museum and the entertainment and educational center Aquarium is also underway.
Apiary on the roof. Image credit: VisitOSLO/Didrick Stenersen
On the territory of the former port industrial zones, there was even a place for public gardens, small private bakeries and craft workshops. Thus, the Losæter project united local artists, amateur gardeners, ecologists and agro-urbanists.
Road maps from Happy City
The English journalist Charles Montgomery collected in his book "The Happy City" philosophical theories of building a happy city over the past few centuries, as well as algorithms for calculating happiness. He also mentioned the agora as the embodiment of the Greek philosophy of the good life, and the Forbidden City of the Ming dynasty. I remembered the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham's Felicific Calculus.
We will recall that Bentham proposed any reforms related to the interests of the community to be pre-evaluated by calculating the degree or amount of satisfaction/happiness that will be achieved in the end. This neat theory of the Enlightenment, thanks to which beautiful public gardens and amusement parks appeared in the cities, was compromised by the result - the bloody revolutions that swept through Europe.
Charles Montgomery, author of the book "Happy City" and co-founder of the agency Happy City
Analyzes Montgomery and the contribution of the founder of hedonistic psychology, Daniel Kahneman, who studied what exactly makes people's lives pleasant and unpleasant. Today, the information obtained by the method of direct surveys is supported by the data of neuroscientists. But the realization of the idea to build a city that is pleasant in all aspects can turn into the creation of Disneyland.
By the way, Disneyland was still in the middle of the XNUMXth century. designed based on theses of environmental psychology, which studies aspects of the relationship between man and the environment. Almost all the architectural and landscape images of Disneyland are archetypal and evoke mainly positive emotions. And Main Street with craft benches, and Princess Castle, and a park with winding paths and swans. But hardly anyone wants to spend more than two days in a row at Disneyland.
The book "Happy City" by Charles Montgomery
Interestingly, after the publication of Montgomery's "Happy City" and the resonance that followed, the author decided to go into practice. Together with like-minded people, Charles Montgomery created the international consulting agency Happy City, which researches the connections between the design of cities and the happiness of their residents, tests urban plans and strategies, organizes trainings, opens city laboratories and develops intuitive methods for the formation of a happy artificial environment.
Mixed-use districts, aesthetically complex and diverse architecture with bright accents, low-rise housing, active facades that encourage walking, public gardens and orchards, plazas as spaces for co-creation—the Happy City recommendations, available for download at thehappycity.com, can successfully used by both formal and informal urban planners, as well as architects and developers.
The transformation of cities is possible only under the condition of personal metamorphosis of their residents
However, like the authors of the GHWPR report, Happy City enthusiasts recognize that the transformation of cities is only possible if their residents are personally transformed. People need to recognize that wealth does not make them happy, and give up excessive consumption, personal vehicles, perhaps career advancement. Refuse to work for a prestigious company if its office is located tens of kilometers away.
Instead, choose a workplace close to home to free up time for communication with family, neighbors, and save yourself from exhausting daily commutes in busy traffic. To become more sociable, more tolerant and more generous — especially with regard to vulnerable categories of the population and migrants. And similar things. Prisoners of the urban agglomeration, career slaves, workaholics who condemn themselves to social isolation — all these definitions that characterize the generation of those who are 40+ today should remain in the past.
As part of the Hug Life cultural movement, Oslo artists regularly organize art events and exhibitions on the streets of the city. Image credit: VisitOSLO/Didrick Stenersen
Happy City team members are eager to demonstrate that they are ready to overcome difficulties. The Canadian office recently moved to a former police headquarters building in Vancouver's troubled East Side, joining the Vancouver Center for Social Innovation community. Modern urban utopians are not confused by the reputation of the district and the negative connotations associated with the police station.
“312 Main will be home to a dynamic community of entrepreneurs, artists and organizations committed to economic and social democracy, empowering each other—and the neighborhoods they are a part of—to thrive. Together we will break barriers," says Happy City. At the same time, the activists ask their guests and visitors to treat East Side residents with understanding who "don't wear Armani suits and don't speak as culturally as you would like." Urban planners are currently adapting the new premises with the help of Mackin+Associates architects.
Activists and staff from Canada's Happy City office, along with artists and architects Mackin + Associates, are transforming the space of a former police station on Vancouver's East Side in an effort to create the perfect environment for social innovation. Image source: mackinportfolio.com
The generation of millennials, and Ukrainians in particular, faces a difficult but at the same time exciting mission: to become creative and social nomads, to explore the connections between urban design and emotions, to study both the success and the pitfalls of various models, universal and individual, in order to return and build your own model of a happy city and society.
This construction, of course, will never be completely completed, and the assessment of happiness will always be subjective. But maybe this article showed you how many people around the world are willing to give their time, resources and knowledge to make it a little better.
EXPERT OPINION
Case Donkers:
Major melody for "Generation +" cities
Dutch urbanist Case Donkers is one of those who is confident in the positive development potential of Ukrainian cities, and therefore spends a lot of time working with Ukrainian designers and architects within the framework of the City as Laboratory project. Case has repeatedly been an expert in our articles, talking about urban transformation models and new algorithms. We caught up with Donkers at InterBuildExpo in March and had time to ask him a few questions as part of the main theme of this volume.
Case Donkers
PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA: Urbanists today often talk about the importance of the "happiness index". You also repeatedly mentioned this and reviewed the book "Happy City" by Charles Montgomery, which was published in 2005. Can we say that Montgomery's recipes are still relevant almost 15 years later?
Case Donkers: I call Eindhoven a "rising star" for a reason. We were able to define a new identity for ourselves, and that already makes us happy. This is largely due to the fact that we are focused on the young generation and use what I call the "seeds of the city", which we collect on brain fields.
These are ideas generated by young minds. If you focus on changes in society, on the youth, and every 10 years a new type of generation appears, then you will certainly witness the birth of a new identity, because it is the youth who create it, create the future. If you can inspire young people, interact with them, then you can also help them, using your knowledge and experience in creating this new identity. This is the most effective tool for the new generation. That's why I call students my professors.
PM: The millennial generation is different from the older generation in many ways. What new requests are formed by children of the digital age?
K.D.: Definitely different. After all, they are able to generate such ideas, create such inventions that we, as an older generation, cannot even imagine. I watch with interest my two-year-old grandson, who easily "flips" through his parents' smartphone and just as easily uses all the other technology, for example, he knows how to find all those TV programs.
This is impressive! That is why I say that every 10 years there is a new generation with different characteristics. I, for example, am from the "protest generation", or the "Woodstock generation", there are also the "pragmatist generation", generations X, Y, Z, etc. The theory of generations is very interesting. I know someone my age who has been seriously researching this for many years.
It is interesting to observe how young people choose different ways of finding a new self-determination. This is a natural process that reflects what is happening in the world. For example, if 10 years ago 80% of design faculty students chose subject design as their main specialization, today 80% choose social design.
The behavior of a person, his needs, life in society - this is what interests them. Therefore, for me, their theses reflect the temperature of society; it is a demonstration of what they are thinking about and what they are preparing to create.
PM: What are the key requirements that millennials present to the city and how well do urban planners manage to satisfy them?
K.D.: As I see it, they prefer to keep small. When I discussed my project "60+ / 30-" (about the experimental project of cohabitation of the elderly and young people, Case Donkers spoke in detail in an interview with PRAGMATIKA.MEDIA, published in the seventh volume. — Ed.), in particular, with millennials, then found out that they, for example, would like to live outside the city, in small houses, observe nature, grow their own vegetables and herbs.
And here you can draw a parallel with the "Woodstock generation": we also longed for unity with nature, longed for life somewhere in the pastoral area, but preferred to break the rules, fight against the foundations of society, that is, we were a kind of revolutionaries. The new generation has similar ideas, but I prefer to call the current picture not a revolution, but an evolution. They are more restrained, more moderate, more rational. This applies to global changes not only in the climate, but also in behavior and mentality in general.
The millennial generation is capable of generating such ideas, creating such inventions that we, as an older generation, cannot even imagine
PM: How happy are the people of Eindhoven today? And what new challenges are facing them?
K.D.: Already definitely happier than 30 years ago. As for new challenges, for me, for example, it is a question of how to grow old. What will be different than my parents. Let's say, today many things are already out of my pocket, and here I need to go my own way, make my own decision. Actually, that's why I want to work on the "60+ / 30-" project, to invest in it the experience of my generation, my energy, and effective tools.
Another aspect is the issue of the environment and natural resources. First of all, a change in the principles of using electricity, gas, gasoline, and coal: in the next 10 years, a transition to alternative sources of energy — wind or solar — is needed. That means there will be big changes here as well. Behavioral change, awareness and concern about this issue are typical these days.
PM: If you were to go in reverse and paint a picture of an "unhappy city", how would you describe it?
K.D.: Unfortunately, this is what I often see in Russia. That is, cities that are in the same state as Eindhoven in 1993. Loss of industry, empty factory buildings, poverty, people in despair, without work, not knowing what to do and how to live on.
PM: Can a city be poor but happy?
K.D.: I think if you know how to accept the truth of life, find happiness in the little things, always see the glass as half full, then you will be happy in spite of everything. It all depends on your mentality. For example, I adopted a positive outlook on the world from my mother.
I think this is true for cities as well. The mental music of some cities is written in minor, and others - in major. Two years ago, we discussed this issue with young people, whom I refer to as "Generation +", at one of the conferences in Cyprus. And we came to the conclusion that there should be no more minor music in our cities.
Communicated: Hope is rich
