What Happy Cities does

Happy Cities is a private urban planning, design, and research consultancy founded in 2013 by Charles Montgomery and headquartered in Vancouver, with a second office in Halifax, Canada. The firm partners with municipalities, housing providers, developers, and public agencies to apply evidence-based urban design principles aimed at improving social wellbeing and livability outcomes in the built environment. It operates as a certified B Corporation and employs between 11 and 50 staff across an interdisciplinary practice spanning urban design, behavioral research, and public engagement.

The company's core deliverables are professional services: project-based consulting engagements, applied research, training cohorts, and proprietary toolkits. Its flagship products include the Public Life Study Tool, the Happy Homes Toolkit (developed with grant support from BC Housing), the Building Social Connections Toolkit, and the Community Wellbeing Assessment Tool. These tools combine proprietary methodologies with field data collection, including wearable sensors for measuring stress and social interaction in public space. Happy Cities distributes several of these tools free of charge as a lead-generation and thought-leadership channel, with monetized work delivered through fee-for-service contracts.

Happy Cities' customer base is concentrated in the public sector, with municipal, regional, and national government clients including the City of Vancouver, Halifax, New Westminster, Rotterdam, Denver, Mexico City, and UAE authorities. Non-profit housing providers such as BC Housing and CMHC represent a second primary segment, while private developers—most notably British Land—form a secondary commercial base. Revenue is project-based rather than recurring SaaS, and the firm has expanded its footprint across North America, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America, with recent engagements in Las Vegas, Park City, Ottawa, Wolfville, and Tysons, VA.

Name

Happy Cities

Legal name

Happy Cities

Website

https://happycities.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Happy Cities is a Vancouver-based urban planning consultancy founded in 2013 that uses evidence-based design and proprietary wellbeing toolkits to advise municipalities, housing providers, and developers on socially connected built environments.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Urban Planning Consulting

NAICS

Architectural Services (54131)

SIC

Services-Facilities Support Management Services (8744)

akta.pro primary industry

Smart Cities & Urban Innovation Programs (Digital Planning, Civic Tech for Cities) (BPAIANAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sustainable Cities, Urban Development & Green Infrastructure (BPADALAL), Community Engagement & Participatory Planning (BPAHAKAO)

Keywords

• Urban planning consulting
• Community wellbeing research
• Placemaking design services
• Housing policy advisory
• Public space planning

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Urban planning and design consulting: Happy Cities generates revenue through fee-for-service consulting engagements with governments, developers, and non-profit organizations. Engagements include community planning, public space design, housing policy, research studies, accessibility planning, and engagement facilitation. Revenue is project-based, not recurring.
2. Research and policy reports: Revenue is generated through commissioned research studies and policy reports for government and institutional clients, including wellbeing assessments, post-occupancy evaluations, and co-created policy documents.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Happy Cities is an urban planning, design, and research consultancy that partners with governments, developers, and non-profits to design neighborhoods, public spaces, and housing that nurture community wellbeing. Its service portfolio spans community planning, public space design, housing policy, research and engagement, accessibility planning, and post-occupancy evaluations, supported by proprietary evidence-based methodologies such as the Public Life Study, the Happy Homes Toolkit, the Building Social Connections Toolkit, and a Community Wellbeing Assessment Tool tracking 80+ wellbeing criteria.

Product overview

Happy Cities is an urban planning, design, and research consultancy that operates as a services and toolkit company rather than a software platform. Their core offerings include consulting services across community planning, public space design, housing policy, and research & engagement, complemented by several proprietary methodologies and toolkits. The Public Life Study Tool provides a free framework for measuring community wellbeing in public spaces. The Happy Homes Toolkit and Building Social Connections Toolkit offer evidence-based design guidance for housing that supports social connection. Their Community Wellbeing Assessment Tool evaluates projects against 80+ wellbeing criteria. The Happy City Book serves as the foundational intellectual property that established the company's approach to urban wellbeing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Urban Planning, Design, and Research Consulting Custom consulting engagements for governments, developers, and non-profits covering community planning, public space design, housing policy, research and engagement, accessibility planning, and post-occupancy evaluations.
• Public Life Study Tool Free, award-winning evidence-based methodology for community organizations, planners, and residents to measure changes in health, happiness, and inclusion in public spaces through behavior observations and intercept surveys.
• Happy Homes Toolkit Evidence-based toolkit developed with support from BC Housing to help design multi-family housing that promotes sociability, social connections, and trust among residents, drawing on neuroscience, sociology, environmental psychology, architecture, and public health.
• Building Social Connections Toolkit Multi-unit housing design toolkit co-developed with Hey Neighbour Collective offering evidence-based design strategies for improving social connection and health through shared spaces.
• Community Wellbeing Assessment Tool Cutting-edge assessment tool that evaluates four design realms and tracks over 80 evidence-based criteria to gauge a project's impact on community wellbeing.
• Happy City Book Published book by Charles Montgomery exploring the intersection between urban design and the emerging science of happiness, with the concept of "Restorative Urbanism" as a set of design methods for boosting health and happiness through urban design interventions.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 700 residents surveyed in a single study (Vancouver Pavement-to-Plaza, 2018)
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, key, preferred and minor.

• Simon Fraser University (SFU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHappy Cities collaborates with SFU on research projects, including the Hey Neighbour Collective partnership for the national 'Building social connections in practice' training cohort. SFU Renewable Cities is a co-host of the training program, and Happy Cities has conducted post-occupancy evaluations with SFU researchers.
• University of Waterloo — Urban Realities LabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLongstanding research partnership with the University of Waterloo's Urban Realities Lab. Key collaborations include the Happy Streets Living Lab experiment and Shore to Core study, combining Happy Cities' urban design expertise with the lab's neuroscience and behavioral research capabilities.
• BC HousingkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerBC Housing provided funding through the Building Excellence Research & Education Grant for the development of the Happy Homes Toolkit and Building Social Connections Toolkit, supporting Happy Cities' research into social connection in multi-unit housing.
• Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCMHC commissioned Happy Cities for the Granville Island 2040 re-imagining project in Vancouver. Happy Cities collaborated with HCMA on this initiative, co-creating guiding principles for the iconic island's future.
• Canadian Urban Institute (CUI)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerHappy Cities partnered with CUI on the 'Bring Back Main Street' pandemic recovery initiative, a national research and action campaign. Happy Cities contributed to the Pandemic Recovery Toolkit for Local Communities and participated in community conversations on placemaking.
• Hey Neighbour CollectivekeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerHappy Cities and Hey Neighbour Collective co-developed the 'Building Social Connections in Practice' national training cohort for planners and co-created the Building Social Connections Toolkit and housing design policies project with five cities and one First Nation.
• Meaningful Access ConsultingpreferredImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerHappy Cities partners with Meaningful Access Consulting on multiple accessibility planning engagements, including projects for the Cities of Kelowna, Richmond, Regina, Rossland, and Whitehorse. Happy Cities leads engagement and planning while Meaningful Access provides accessibility expertise.
• City of VancouvercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHappy Cities has conducted multiple projects for the City of Vancouver, including the Pavement-to-Plaza wellbeing assessment, Vancouver seniors housing strategy, apartment livability study, and Sea2City False Creek challenge. The relationship is ongoing and multi-project.
• City of New WestminsterkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe City of New Westminster has engaged Happy Cities for the Streets for People initiative (Open Streets program), active transportation improvements, and youth-led placemaking on the Crosstown Greenway. A testimonial from the Director of Engineering praises the quality of research and fieldwork.
• HCMA Architecture + DesignkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerHappy Cities collaborated with HCMA on the Granville Island 2040 project led by CMHC. HCMA led the interdisciplinary team while Happy Cities provided urban wellbeing and placemaking expertise.
• Street Plans CollaborativeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerStreet Plans Collaborative was a collaborator on the Shore to Core competition entry (with the Van Alen Institute and West Palm Beach CRA), working alongside Happy Cities, the University of Virginia, and Space Syntax.
• Laboratorio para la Ciudad (Mexico City)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerHappy Cities partnered with Mexico City's urban innovation lab to conduct a collaborative wellbeing audit in Colonia Doctores, co-designing the audit framework with designers, planners, students, and local residents.
• Viva Vancouver / City of Vancouver Streets & TransportationkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerViva Vancouver (City of Vancouver) provided support for the Happy Streets Living Lab experiment, which studied how colorful and lush public space interventions affect wellbeing and trust among strangers.
• MODUSminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMODUS supported the Happy Streets Living Lab experiment in Vancouver as a collaborator on the research study.
• Project for Public Spaces (PPS)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerProject for Public Spaces supported the Happy Streets Living Lab experiment (carried out during the Pro Walk/Pro Bike/Pro Place conference) and was a partner on the Love Night at the Guggenheim event led by Charles Montgomery.
• Lu'ma Native Housing SocietyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLu'ma Native Housing Society is listed among Happy Cities' clients, suggesting a consulting engagement related to Indigenous housing and community design.
• Brightside Community Homes FoundationkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerBrightside commissioned Happy Cities to study how their resident relocation process during redevelopment impacts wellbeing. The study involved surveys, in-person interviews, and phone calls with residents, leading to recommendations for improving relocation policy.
• Van Alen InstitutekeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerVan Alen Institute staged the Shore to Core research competition with the West Palm Beach Community Redevelopment Agency. Happy Cities' entry won the competition, investigating how urban spaces influence human wellbeing in waterfront cities.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• 8 80 Cities: Toronto-based organization focused on improving urban life for all ages through vitality, livability, and equity. Direct peer to Happy Cities given overlapping focus on urban wellbeing, public space, and walkability consulting for municipalities.
• Sasaki Associates: International design firm combining architecture, landscape, planning, and urban design. Peer to Happy Cities in delivering integrated urban planning and master plan services for municipalities, developers, and institutions, but at much larger scale.
• Gehl: Copenhagen-based urban design and consulting firm founded by Jan Gehl, focused on making cities more humane and livable. Direct peer to Happy Cities in applying people-centered, evidence-based methodology to urban planning and public space design.
• Project for Public Spaces (PPS): Nonprofit centered on placemaking and the use of public spaces to build community. Direct peer to Happy Cities in advancing evidence-based public space research and tools, and an actual partner on the Happy Streets Living Lab and other initiatives.
• WXY Studio: Urban planning and design practice focused on public space, community development, and resilient cities. Peer to Happy Cities in delivering place-based urban strategy and master planning for North American cities and institutions.
• Street Plans Collaborative: Urban planning, design, and advisory firm focused on multimodal transportation and placemaking. Direct peer to Happy Cities in producing tactical urbanism projects and collaborating with cities on public realm improvements, and an actual partner on the Shore to Core competition.

Broad incumbents

• Arup: Global engineering, design, and planning consultancy with substantial urban planning and cities practices. Peer to Happy Cities in offering urban planning and human-centered design, but as a broad incumbent with broader engineering and built-environment capabilities.
• AECOM: Global infrastructure consultancy with extensive urban planning, landscape architecture, and design practices. Peer to Happy Cities in providing city-level planning and design services, but as a broad incumbent with worldwide scale and broader service portfolio.
• Stantec: Global professional services firm with a large community development and urban planning practice. Peer to Happy Cities in delivering municipal planning, urban design, and community engagement, but as a broad incumbent across multiple infrastructure domains.
• HR&A Advisors: Real estate, economic development, and public policy advisory firm. Peer to Happy Cities in providing urban economic and community development strategy for cities and developers, but as a broader incumbent across multiple real estate advisory disciplines.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Happy Cities