Charles Montgomery – författare

Happy City is the story of how the solutions to this century's problems lie in unlocking the secrets to great city livingThis is going to be the century of the city. But what actually makes a good city? Why are some cities a joy to live in?As Charles Montgomery reveals, it's not how much money your neighbours earn, or how pleasant the climate is that makes the most difference. Journeying to dozens of cities - from Atlanta to Bogotá to Vancouver - he talks to the new champions of the happy city to explore the urban innovations already transforming people's lives. He meets the visionary Colombian mayor who turned some of the world's most dangerous roads into an urban cycling haven; the Danish architect who brought the lessons of medieval Tuscan towns to modern-day Copenhagen; and the New York City transport commissioner who turned the gridlock of Times Square into a place to lounge in the sun.Drawing on the lessons from their stories, from brain science, and from the fascinating realm of urban experimentation, Happy City offers solutions we can all use to improve our livesandshows that simple changes can make all the difference.'Do we live in neighbourhoods that make us happy? Montgomery encourages us to ask without embarrassment, and to think intelligently about the answer' The New York Times Book Review'Excellent . . . Montgomery believes in the importance of smart town planning and Happy City is a compendium of its major ideas' Will Dean, IndependentCharles Montgomery is a journalist and urban experimentalist from Vancouver, Canada. His writings on urban planning, psychology, culture, and history have appeared in magazines and journals on three continents. He is the author of one previous book, and was an original member of the BMW Guggenheim Lab.

Happy City is the story of how the solutions to this century's problems - from climate change to overpopulation - lie in unlocking the secrets to great city living This is going to be the century of the city. But what actually makes a good city? Why, really, are some cities a joy to live in? As writer and journalist Charles Montgomery reveals, it's not how much money your neighbours earn, or how spectacular the views from your windows are, or even how pleasant the climate is that makes the most difference. Journeying to dozens of cities - from Atlanta to Bogotá to Vancouver - he talks to the new champions of the happy city to discover the progressive movements already transforming people's lives. He meets the visionary Colombian mayor who turned some of the world's most dangerous roads into an urban cycling haven; the Danish architect who brought the lessons of medieval Tuscan towns to modern-day Copenhagen; the New York City transport commissioner who made out of the gridlock of Times Square a place where people could lounge in the sun; and the Californian mother with the super-commute who completely rethought her idea of the suburban dream for the sake of her son's health. These urban trailblazers, as well as the many other planners, engineers, grass-roots campaigners and ordinary citizens, offer a wealth of surprising lessons for the rest of us. From how saying hello to your neighbours is just as important to your sense of trust as contact with close friends and family, and how living close to parks makes us smarter, kinder and reduces local crime rates, to the importance of the 'magic triangle' rule, Happy City shows thatsimple changes can make all the difference.Charles Montgomery is a journalist and urban experimentalist from Vancouver, Canada. His writings on urban planning, psychology, culture, and history have appeared in magazines and journals on three continents. He is the author of two previous books, and is a member of the BMW Guggenheim Lab team.

When Charles Montgomery was ten years old, he stumbled upon the memoirs of his great-grandfather, a seafaring missionary in the South Pacific. Poring over the faint text and faded pictures, he was entranced by the world of black magic and savagery the bishop described, and couldn''t help but wonder what drove the Victorian to risk his life among people who had shot, drowned, or clubbed to death so many of his predecessors.Twenty years later and a century after that journey, Montgomery sets out for the reefs and atolls of Melanesia in search of the very spirits and myths the missionaries had sought to destroy. He retraces his ancestor''s path through the far-flung islands, exploring the bond between faith and magic, the eerie persistence of the spirit world, and the heavy footprints of Empire.What he discovers is a world of sorcery and shark worship, where the lines between Christian and pagan rituals are as blurred as the frontiers of fact, fantasy, and faith. After confrontations with a bizarre cast of cult leaders, militants, and mystics, the author, in his quest for ancient magic, is led to an island in crisis -- and to a new myth with the power to destroy or to save its people forever.Alternately terrifying, moving, and hilarious, with overtones of Melville and Conrad, The Shark God is Montgomery''s extraordinary and piercingly intelligent account of both Melanesia''s transformation and his own. This defiantly original blend of history and memoir, anthropology and travel writing, marks the debut of a singular new talent.

An acclaimed design thinker argues that our societies have been built to push us apart—but they can be rebuilt for human connection Social trust is the single most powerful predictor of human happiness. But we are living through a crisis of trust. As people lose faith in neighbours, strangers, and institutions, we are becoming more susceptible to loneliness, division, and extremism.In The Trust Experiments, Charles Montgomery reveals how this crisis emerged from a collision between human psychology and countless bad design decisions. Contemporary homes discourage neighbourly contact; cities force us into solitary commutes; social media algorithms widen schisms across society. But it doesn’t have to be this way.From the baugruppen of Germany, to the co-housing villages of Vancouver, to the Utopias of Mexico, Montgomery takes us into intentional communities that have been designed to promote mutual care. He meets Taiwanese activists who are using AI to reverse the antisocial and polarizing effects of social media. He shows how governments from Denmark to Costa Rica have boosted trust by making their societies fairer. And he shows how we can all use design in our own lives to rebuild the trusting relationships that keep us happy, healthy and strong.

Charles Montgomery's compelling narrative traces the history of the upper Rio Grande's modern Spanish heritage, showing how Anglos and Hispanos sought to redefine the region's social character by glorifying its Spanish colonial past. This readable book demonstrates that northern New Mexico's twentieth-century Spanish heritage owes as much to the coming of the Santa Fe Railroad in 1880 as to the first Spanish colonial campaign of 1598. As the railroad brought capital and migrants into the region, Anglos posed an unprecedented challenge to Hispano wealth and political power. Yet unlike their counterparts in California and Texas, the Anglo newcomers could not wholly displace their Spanish-speaking rivals. Nor could they segregate themselves or the upper Rio Grande from the image, well-known throughout the Southwest, of the disreputable Mexican. Instead, prominent Anglos and Hispanos found common cause in transcending the region's Mexican character. Turning to colonial symbols of the conquistador, the Franciscan missionary, and the humble Spanish settler, they recast northern New Mexico and its people.

For decades, the American dream of retirement was secured by the corporate pension-a guaranteed, mathematical promise that a lifetime of labor would be rewarded with financial stability until death. Today, that guarantee has nearly vanished, replaced by the ubiquitous 401(k) account, leaving individuals to navigate the volatile stock market on their own. This monumental shift was never a planned economic strategy. The 401(k) was born in 1978 as an obscure, minor tax loophole intended only for elite executives to defer bonuses. However, corporate America quickly realized it could exploit this loophole to completely dismantle expensive pension obligations, effectively transferring all the financial risk of longevity and market crashes from the company's balance sheet directly onto the untrained employee. This book dissects the history and economic consequences of this invisible wealth transfer. You will discover how the financial industry capitalized on this shift, why human psychology is fundamentally ill-equipped to manage decades of market volatility, and how this accidental system birthed the modern retirement crisis. Understand the mechanics of the game you have been forced to play. By recognizing the historical shift in financial risk, you can adopt a more defensive, strategic approach to your own wealth management.

How do you convince an entire starving nation to eat a vegetable they firmly believe is poisonous and only fit for pigs? In the late 18th century, a brilliant French pharmacist named Antoine Parmentier realized that scientific logic was useless against deep cultural superstition. To save France from famine, he needed to engineer a masterclass in reverse psychology. Parmentier knew that simply giving the potatoes away would reinforce their reputation as peasant food. Instead, he convinced King Louis XVI to grant him a plot of land near Paris, which he planted entirely with potatoes. He then hired heavily armed royal guards to aggressively patrol the field during the day, creating the illusion of immense value. Crucially, he ordered the guards to abandon their posts at night. Believing the guarded crop must be a rare delicacy reserved for the nobility, local peasants immediately began breaking in to steal and cultivate the potatoes themselves. This delightful historical narrative explores the birth of psychological marketing. It documents the absurd PR stunts involving potato-blossom bouquets, the stubborn culinary resistance of the French aristocracy, and the eventual triumph of this vital crop. Discover the most brilliant agricultural heist in history. Parmentier's guarded potato fields prove that artificial exclusivity is the ultimate tool for manipulating human desire.

Charles Montgomery''s Happy City is revolutionizing the way we think about urban life.After decades of unchecked sprawl, more people than ever are moving back to the city. Dense urban living has been prescribed as a panacea for the environmental and resource crises of our time. But is it better or worse for our happiness? Are subways, sidewalks, and condo towers an improvement on the car dependence of the suburbs?The award-winning journalist Charles Montgomery finds answers to such questions at the intersection between urban design and the emerging science of happiness, during an exhilarating journey through some of the world''s most dynamic cities. He meets the visionary mayor who introduced a "sexy" bus to ease status anxiety in Bogotá; the architect who brought the lessons of medieval Tuscan hill towns to modern-day New York City; the activist who turned Paris''s urban freeways into beaches; and an army of American suburbanites who have hacked the design of their own streets and neighborhoods.Rich with new insights from psychology, neuroscience, and Montgomery''s own urban experiments, Happy City reveals how cities can shape our thoughts as well as our behavior. The message is ultimately as surprising as it is hopeful: by retrofitting cities and our own lives for happiness, we can tackle the urgent challenges of our age. The happy city can save the world―and we can all help build it.