Happy Dubai
AS an architect and urban planner, I believe that a happier city makes for happier people. Charles Montgomery echoes the same sentiments in his book HappyCity. He illustrates for us the image of a happy city by giving examples of people’s pursuit of well-being in everyday life. Go and ask a Filipino what he truly longs for, and he will answer you simply that he hopes to spend more time with his family, have a wellpaying job that would secure his family’s future, live in a healthy and safe environment for them all, and have access to those social conditions that make life pleasant for him and his loved ones. Like Montgomery, I believe that we can all build a happy city if we make life pleasant for architecture and urban planning, this means — for us at Palafox in particular — designing emphatic structures with its end users in mind. But it does not end there. especially in Dubai, the active participation of the government and citizens in creating a flourishing society. Today, I feel gratefully overwhelmed thinking about those people in Dubai and my own experience of being given the means to live a happy life.
Dubai has made many smart investments in the past, but recently, it has been making the best one yet. It is summarized in Sheikh Zayed’s belief that investing in people’s welfare, knowledge and capabilities would produce the greatest dividends for individuals, families and society. People are the United Arab Emirates’ greatest asset. Combined with visionary leadership, strong political will, good governance, and good appreciation of urban planning and good design, they have succeeded in delivering the basic needs and services and even additional benefits for all — citizens, expatriates and visitors alike. During the International Day of Happiness last year, the UAE launched the World Happiness Council, a group of global happiness and well-being experts charged with developing a yearly report on best practices and notable government achievements in happiness. With their very own Minister of Happiness, Dubai is leading the way toward the attainment of a healthy and prosperous world.
From their example, I believe we can create a society where people experience selfacceptance. Throughout the years I lived in Dubai, I saw a transformation in the people there: you see in them a noticeable sense of optimism and confidence, especially in the younger generation. It is very encouraging to see their hope in the future as manifested in how the they are also involved in the government’s plans for the city. They are able to notify the government about their issues and concerns anytime through kiosks stationed around the city.
core of his counter-punch, Diokno practically knocked out his own logical premise — that we need term limits because of our experience with Marcos, even if we had him despite the fact that
Diokno may be forgiven. The pressures of a time limit, and the need to squeeze in the usual anti-martial law mantra to please his base, may have been too constraining to fully express his views.
But what is unforgivable is when some people from academe, those who had the audacity to chastise people like me for allegedly betraying our academic integrity by subordinating
It was Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum who envisioned Dubai to become the happiest city on earth by 2021. Contrary to the common image people have of the Middle East, community. Smart Dubai, their “happiness project,” aims to harness technology to achieve personalized city experience for all residents and visitors. For the past few years, I have observed how they promote social interaction through digital interaction. In line with this objective of Smart Dubai, they have successfully designed apps that help develop the social and emotional skills of autistic children. Parents and students are able to interact with peers in school through an online platform that aids in their collaborative efforts to educate the young. Professionals, residents, and business owners will soon be able to access government services and perform transactions anywhere and anytime online. With these activities, Dubai will have a strong social community enriched by digital services that function as a platform for social experiences to take place.
Let us keep in mind, however, that even though the modern, cosmopolitan city makes it easier than ever for individuals to retreat from neighbors and strangers, the greatest satisfaction they actually experience lies in working and playing cooperatively with other people. In Dubai, the city has been designed to facilitate this by providing everyone open public spaces where they can rest and recreate and organize and celebrate events with each other.
level of environmental mastery. It indicates their sense of wellbeing and also the ways they have managed to build structures that make city living convenient for all. In Dubai, a person enjoys the ability to navigate and thrive in the world because of this. If you go to Dubai, you will notice that it is a walkable community. You can comfortably navigate your way through its cashless transportation system. With the tap of an application on your phone, you can instantly reload your train fare. Because their trains leave at a set time, people are encouraged to be punctual. Many of them also prove to be disciplined and responsible enough to leave their work on time for the sake of the family and to carry on with their other obligations.
When in Dubai, one can feel independence and a sense of purpose because people facilitate the work of others. We can see from Dubai that the city is ultimately a shared project — it forms the proper setting for us to help one another attain the common good of all.
our scholarship to our politics, cheered Diokno and jeered Marcos. There were those of Marcos’ opinion. And there were also those who argued that Marcos simply misinterpreted the research. Ronald Mendoza, dean of the Ateneo School of Government, even blamed Querubin for not being careful in his conclusions, which resulted in it now being misused.
All of these are simply because Marcos is not the politician these academics like, and her position is one that they do not agree with.
It is now my turn to ask. Whatever happened to them?