Human well-being and city life
Asia is important for Europe. While numerous other networking projects examine urban problems such as infrastructure, none consider human well-being. The EU-funded UKNA (Urban knowledge network Asia) project studied Asian cities. The joint research programme considered the flourishing of human beings in urban environments, and creative production of such environments. First, the consortium solidified as a network. A milestone towards the goal was development of a common vision concerning the network's activities and planned research outputs. The vision emphasised immediate problem solving and identification of processes for increasing residents' creative shaping of cities. The first of the project's four aspects involved organising internal workshops and roundtable meetings. The team organised five such events about various urban themes. Participants also organised five external roundtables and related activities. UKNA produced three volumes of research papers, to be published in 2017. Themes included ideas of the city, cities by and for the people, and future challenges of cities in Asia. Finally, the project fostered two linkages to external projects. One was with the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the other with the Henry Luce Foundation. The UKNA project's work yielded insights into changes that may make city life happier and more rewarding.
