Ideas worth spreading

Can we design cities for happiness?

18,471 views | Thomas Madrecki • TED@UPS

City planners are already busy designing futures full of bike paths and LEED-certified buildings. But are they designing for our happiness? It's hard to define, and even harder to plan for, but urban planner Thomas Madrecki has a simple solution: Ask the public.

City planners are already busy designing futures full of bike paths and LEED-certified buildings. But are they designing for our happiness? It's hard to define, and even harder to plan for, but urban planner Thomas Madrecki has a simple solution: Ask the public.

About the speaker

Thomas Madrecki

Thomas Madrecki

Urban happiness planner

As the director of urban innovation and mobility, Thomas Madrecki leads partnerships between UPS and city leaders to reduce congestion, increase quality of life and shape policy. Madrecki was a strategic communications manager before he took this position, and was overseeing public relations with a focus on federal policy in transportation and sustainability.

About TED Institute

Every year, TED works with a group of select companies and foundations to identify internal ideators, inventors, connectors, and creators. Drawing on the same rigorous regimen that has prepared speakers for the TED main stage, TED Institute works closely with each partner, overseeing curation and providing intensive one-on-one talk development to sharpen and fine tune ideas. The culmination is an event produced, recorded, and hosted by TED, generating a growing library of valuable TED Talks that can spur innovation and transform organizations.

Read more about the TED Institute