Dubai is the home to world’s tallest skyscraper and also the fastest police car. But this doesn’t seem satisfactory for the city. Dubai has set a challenge for himself to be the world’s happiest city.
Apart from the Gross Domestic Product and Per Capita Income, Dubai is also measuring people’s happiness through interactive touchpoints in the city. And guess what these touchpoints are known as? The Happiness Meters!
You will find three emojis on the meter- a happy face, a neutral face and a sad face. You can rank the satisfaction level with everyday service of the city on this meter. It will track the number of smiley faces the city received. And this will determine the city’s happiness score.
These meters have been set up by Smart Dubai, a government entity which is tasked with transforming Dubai into a smart city.
The current ‘happiness score’ for Dubai is measured over 6 million votes which is 90 percent. The city aims to increase the numbers to 95% by the end of 2021.
Smart Dubai has also installed sensors in the dustbins to alert the authorities when they need to be emptied. An app called DubaiNow was developed for residents to pay the bills, fines, etc.
For Dubai, happiness is no trivial matter and it requires all the time, effort and resources for its enhancement.
Just like Bhutan has Gross National Happiness, Dubai has a separate Ministry of Happiness, which aims to promote and prioritize happiness in everyday life.
A plethora of events are organised in Dubai to promote happiness, like ‘happiness park’, ‘happiness journey’ on International Happiness Day.
India as well as other countries should be taking cues from Dubai and Bhutan.
