Xische was engaged to co-author, build, launch and manage the Happiness Agenda program for Smart Dubai to transform Dubai into the happiest city on Earth

HAPPINESS AS GOVERNANCE

Having worked with Smart Dubai since its inception on a variety of strategic initiatives (Happiness Meter, Dubai Now, Dubai Blockchain Strategy) as well as branding and communications through our Design Practice, our strategy team helped conceive the Happiness Agenda as a key city-wide strategic program.

Working alongside Smart Dubai’s key leadership, our Strategy Team helped develop a science-backed, methodical framework to plan, implement and measure Dubai’s smart city transformation with a quantifiable basis in promoting public happiness.

FRAMEWORK FOR HAPPINESS

Informed by the work of Martin Seligman and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, our team developed an evaluative framework to prioritize city initiatives that promote individual’s happiness needs that was also sensitive to Dubai’s unique cultural context. The team identified a 90-day action plan to launch the citywide program, and led concept development for key supporting initiatives including a happiness maturity model and happiness champion program.

NATION WIDE NARRATIVE

The strategy was announced by His Highest Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, through a communication exercise led by our Brand Practice. The narrative showcased the city’s rich tradition of quality of life initiatives and highlighted the effort of government entities who had already adopted the Happiness Meter, a program we conceived and launched with Smart Dubai to gather live analysis on customer satisfaction, provided in real-time to the city’s decision makers and leadership.

OUR ENGAGEMENT

Our teams worked alongside Smart Dubai for 36 months to ensure the program was adopted cross-government and eventually the private sector through roadshows, strategic partnerships, and building a nation-wide Happiness Champions training program with over 20 government agencies.

We also built the principal communication platform for the Happiness Agenda.