Bristol businesses are being encouraged to take part in a world-beating project to gauge the happiness of the city and improve wellbeing for its residents.
The Happiness Pulse has been launched by Bristol charity Happy City to build up a unique picture of the city as seen through the needs and aspirations of its residents. 
The first of its kind in the world, the survey will collect information from individual around the city, enabling everyone to see trends and understand strengths and needs in different communities.
This world-leading city-scale tool will also provide community and city leaders with a much clearer understanding of what works in creating conditions for people to thrive, shaping policy for a happier and more productive Bristol.
For businesses, it will give a unique snapshot of the wellbeing of staff and stakeholders and can be used as a tool to trigger innovation in the way people interact with their jobs and their workplace.
Liz Zeidler of Happy City said: “We’re encouraging as many people as possible to take their Happiness Pulse online, helping themselves and identifying trends in each city area.
“This will help ensure human, financial and environmental resources are used wisely, and support is given to actions that make a real and positive difference. When you put these elements together, by encouraging a whole city to take its Happiness Pulse, you start getting a picture of what creates the conditions for people to thrive at a city level.”
The Happiness Pulse Web App is live online now at happinesspulse.org. Happy City will be, publishing the findings in September.
Happy City was launched six years ago and has been working on the Happiness Pulse for most of that time, staging a pilot last year. It is working with academics on the project.
It believes the project will put Bristol on the international map for looking at new ways of gauging the success of a city and for shaping policies that more accurately reflect the needs and aspirations of its citizens.
Traditionally politicians and civil servants have looked at measures such as gross domestic product (GDP) and gross value added (GVA) to gauge the impact of policies on residents. The Happiness Pulse will give them access to vital information on how individuals view their wellbeing.
