All you need is… happiness!

Is this because it’s the summer holidays – a period usually associated with happy moments? To a certain extent. Each of us – regardless of their age, the season or their station – is constantly striving for happiness. The thing is, everyone defines it differently. And it’s the same in business. Most of us would admit that happy moments are likelier to happen in a luxurious five-star hotel than in a basic hostel – but maybe this isn’t always the case. Following our hearts (or perhaps wallets), we have decided to take a look at the upscale hotel segment. Is this niche product now poised to undergo serious growth in Poland? The answer to that question can be found in the article entitled ‘Five-Star Gazing’. And now, when we return from our vacations with smiles on our faces, the chief happiness officer is there waiting for us in the office to help us get through any post-holiday blues (a common affliction). Who’s that? you may ask. The role of the ‘happiness person’ in an organisation and examples of other completely new but related positions in the sector are examined in the article ‘The Weight of Happiness’. Returning to the definition of happiness: Abraham Maslow claimed that its essence lies in the fulfilment of certain needs (both physiological and those related to our feelings of security, love, belonging, respect and self-fulfilment). Would city councils agree with this? Their job is also try to satisfy our needs, so that we feel happy as residents. Thus they are now striving to create so-called ‘smart cities’ in order to achieve this. In the first of a series of articles we will try to uncover how best to understand and implement the ‘smart’ concept in our urban environments and the world of real estate. We start with this month’s feature article, ‘Wising up to Smart Cities’.