One size does not fit it all. We believe it is not possible to fairly well identify a single city that should be considered the best in terms of ensuring the happiness of its inhabitants. This is due to many factors such as different classification of cities in the world, the scale of their impact, the number of inhabitants, the availability of resources, social characteristics and expectations, the nature of the problems they have to face due to natural conditions or geopolitical location. Choosing the right solutions aimed at achieving intended results is what local governance does on daily basis to make their citizens happy.
A city of happy people will always mean something different to a five-year-old expecting places to play and the opportunity to build relationships with parents as part of quality time spent together, where a quick return home from the workplace will be crucial. Other expectations would be defined by students, corporate professionals, senior citizens and every other group of people with specific needs.
Therefore, it is not fair to establish a single city-leader. It is most appropriate to establish a group of cities committed to happiness cultivation and growth, where education, inclusive policies, economy, mobility, environmental protection, access to green areas or innovation are not only important components of the official policies created, but are also visible in the implemented solutions, tangible for the residents and have a direct impact on their quality of life.
Since every city is a moving landscape, their activity must be periodically verified, especially with regard to the quality of public services provided and place-based knowledge, in response to new challenges that arise. We do that every day and publish once a year. Every year has its highs and lows, and so has had the past one – from the AI related polemic to the several hot and cold conflicts and polarizations around the globe, the aftershocks of pandemic like wellbeing itself moving towards the centre of public debate, worthy of gratitude, yet still not enough inclusive.

The challenges of today’s world are fairly complicated, require holistic approach and made-to-measure solutions. We all know it’s better to prevent than cure. Strong leadership in wellbeing policy implementation is vital now more that ever. Policy makers are believed to be slow to react and first to blame. We believe it’s often an unfair bias especially with respect to the local ones. Local governance has direct and strong impact on people’s everyday lives and so their happiness – our common fundamental human goal.