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Happiness is a continuum, there is no fixed point. Humans are hard wired to strive for better circumstances. Better security, better homes, better cars, better taps, better countertops. This desire to build up and out, to improve asset values and own more stuff, suggests that we humans have not changed all that much in ten thousand years.

In their paper, Evolutionary Efficiency and Happiness (Journal of Political Economy, 2007, vol 115, no 2) Rayo and Becker offer that happiness is a "decision making device that allows the individual to rank alternative courses of action." Happiness is described as a tool that encourages forward motion, not a stationary point.

As architects aiming to enhance society, are we indulging our species' worst trait? Charles Montgomery seems to think so in his book Happy City. Simply put, humans do not perceive the value of things in absolute terms. Something we learn a lot about in architecture school is 'context' but what Montgomery, Rayo and Becker offer is that humans are terrible at making meaningful decisions without it.

A good example of this is in our own work as architects. Masterplanning is conducted by an amassed team of maybe 15 architects, a handful of engineers and other consultants, a client, a local authority, a national government committee as well perhaps, but all in all, fifty people redesign a city precinct that 20,000 complete strangers call home. Many of these people have lived in the area their whole lives and have a far more extensive experience of the place than we marauding professionals.

I will admit that this is the area of architecture that I know least about and my education is just beginning. My insecurities about this sector are well justified, as you only have to glance at any city on the planet to see multiple failed attempts at urban design. If we are so good at this, why do we keep getting it wrong? How can we honestly expect to do these place justice when they are so unfamiliar to us? How can we meet the 'happiness requirements' for residents when we don't understand what it is like to live there? Combine this with the human inability to bottle happiness, and disappointment is sadly inevitable.

But what is the alternative? To deny happiness is inhuman, so instead the designers have to put themselves through the game and make the best of things. We will not satisfy all needs, but we start in the hope that when we finish, the place will be better off in the long run.

References

C. Montgomery, Happy City:Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design, 2013, Penguin, https://thehappycity.com/the-book/

Rayo & Becker, Evolutionary Efficiency and Happiness (Journal of Political Economy, 2007, vol 115, no 2) https://www.econ.nyu.edu/user/debraj/Courses/NewRes08/Papers/rayo_becker_07.pdf