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23 Brown J. World Aff. 149 (2016-2017)
Promoting Well-Being in the Modern City - An Interview with Jonah Shrock, Providence, RI, 15 February 2017

handle is hein.journals/brownjwa23 and id is 451 raw text is: Promoting Well-being in the Modern City CHARLES MONTGOMERY Author and Principal Happy City An Interview with Jonah Shrock Providence, RI, 15 February 2017 Charles Montgomery is a Canadian urbanist, author, and Principal ofHappy City. His book Happy City (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2013) draws on psychology, neuroscience, and urban planning to inform how cities can be designed to make its residents happier. His organization, Happy City, works with city-builders, planners, governments, scientists, activists, and citizens to maximize well-being through design. 149 His team has collaborated with the Guggenheim Museum, the Van Alen Institute, Museum of Vancouver, the Government of Mexico City, and other entities on three continents. Brown Journal of WorldAffairs: Much of your work focuses on the impor- tance of social trust. What do you see as the relationship between social trust and urban health? Charles Montgomery: There's no more powerful contributor to human well- being than strong, trusting social relationships. Nothing matters more, not even money, and money matters a lot. So when we look at well-being in cities, we need to examine how the systems, the architecture, and the spaces influence how we regard and treat other people, because they have a very strong influence. Journal: A lot of the concepts that you focus on involve emotions and psychol- ogy. When you talk to government officials and policymakers, are they generally receptive to the idea of incorporating emotional factors and psychology into urban design? Copyright © 2017 by the Brown Journal of WorldAffairs SPRING/SUMMER 2017 - VOLUME XXIII, ISSUE II