Enrique Peñalosa, who served as mayor of Bogotá, Colombia, believes:
“Economics, urban planning, ecology are only the means. Happiness is the goal,” Peñalosa says, summing up his work. “We have a word in Spanish, ganas, which means a burning desire. I have ganas about public life.”
Because really:
“The least a democratic society should do,“ he says, “is to offer people wonderful public spaces. Public spaces are not a frivolity. They are just as important as hospitals and schools. They create a sense of belonging. This creates a different type of society — a society where people of all income levels meet in public space is a more integrated, socially healthier one.”
In other words:
Happiness itself is a commons to which everyone should have equal access.
New York City has some recent happiness of its own thanks to Peñalosa.
