The How to Design a Happy City conference, in association with Places Matter!, explored alternative ways of planning and redesigning our cities and neighbourhoods, starting with the premise of not simply providing more houses but improving the quality of the spaces between them and the wellbeing of their inhabitants. Speakers included Pete Halsall (CEO of visionary developers Bio-Regional Quintain), Joost Beunderman (Research Associate at Demos), Ian McArthur (Regional Director of Groundwork) and Michael Palwyn of Exploration Architecture. A collaboration between Places Matter! and Liverpool Biennial, the event was aimed at all those who want to improve the quality of life in our cities and the health of their citizens. Happy City offered a forum to explore the potential for locally responsive regeneration. Creating alternative models of development that support sustainable change and new ways to measure their success may offer opportunities for investment left unexplored in recent waves of regeneration. With the economic climate undergoing dramatic change, the event took a pause for thought to imagine new business and social models that might just offer a way forward. The event took place in the former St Winefride’s & St Richard’s  School (St Winnie’s) on the canalside in Bootle. Following in the footsteps of Utopians before them, St Winnie’s was transformed by architects Raumlabor, artist Kerry Morrison and food activists Squash Nutrition into an Urban Arcadia. St. Winnie’s School, Merton Road, Bootle, L20 7AR

UP Projects
Urbanism 09 Conferences and Artworks on Flickr