The happiest place in the world...

by Fernando Pacheco

Is Bhutan – a landlocked nation in South Asia –really the happiest place on earth?

Not according to the Happy Planet Index 2009,which researched 143 countries to find the happiest countries on the planet, based on the well-being of its citizens and the effects the environment has on them.

In 1972, Bhutan became the first nation to start measuring the happiness of its population as the government tried to balance the ancient traditions and culture of the country with modernity.

Fast forward to 2009 and we discover that the highest score on the Happy Planet Index belongs to Costa Rica.

Costa Rica

It manages to top the list for several reasons.

For instance, it has the highest levels of reported life satisfaction, and it has taken deliberate steps to reduce its environmental impact.

Professor Mariano Rojas, a Costa Rican economist adds more reasons: solid social networks of friends, families and neighbourhoods brought about by a sensible work-life balance, a rich natural capital and strong political participation.

Arts London News talked to Costa Ricans to see if the research is right in saying that their country is indeed a happy place to live.

Resident Melanie Soto certainly agrees: “I think that’s the way we are, always trying to help people. When we do that, we feel happy, and it also helps that we take an easy approach to life, we don’t worry too much.”

Family

“The majority of people that I know in Costa Rica have established priorities, starting with their families.

"They are very homely and spend time with families and friends,” says Denise Torres, who moved there from Peru.

The easy-going approach to life is definitely a reason for Costa Rica’s success in the well-being of its citizens.

According to musician Jazz Najera: “For us humour is very important. We know how to laugh, even about our problems.

"We laugh instead of crying, no matter how hard the situation.”

Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe comes last on the list , which doesn’t come as a surprise, especially after the recent crisis that affected the country.

The research adds that the index cannot be considered an official list of the ‘happiest’ countries, but more of a method of comparing countries’ progress towards the goal of providing long-term well-being for all,without exceeding the limits of equitable resource consumption.

It is surprising that all of the top 10 are middle income countries, and nine are part of Latin America, with the exception of Vietnam in fifth place.

Following Costa Rica are the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Guatemala, Vietnam, Colombia, Cuba, El Salvador, Brazil and Honduras.

Latin America

Some may wonder why so many Latin American countries are on the top of the Happy Planet Index.

According to the survey there are two reasons for that.

First is the relatively unmaterialistic aspirations and values of its population, and secondly, the strong social capital means a very active civil society.

The West did not score very well in terms of sustainable well-being, and that’s probably one of the reasons why there are no western European dolnations in the top 40.

UK

The closest one is the Netherlands at 43, with the UK ranked 74, well behind Germany, France and Italy.

The high carbon footprints of Western Europe were one of the reasons for such disappointing scores.

Britain was also low ranked due to its social problems, community breakdowns and unhealthy lifestyles.

The research shows us that although wealth may not be the only factor that measures the happiness and success of a country, it does have a strong influence, and rich countries tend to do better than poorer ones for obvious reasons.

Sub-Saharan Africa

The bottom 10 countries on the list are from Sub-Saharan Africa, which had the lowest levels of life satisfaction in any region and declining health over the last 15 years.

The principle of focusing on happiness instead of economic power may start gathering support around the world.

Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, announced in September last year that he would put well-being as one of the main key indicators of growth instead of using the traditional Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Sarkozy said that economic growth might imperil the planet, destroying more than creating and that because the world, society and economy have changed, the key indicators must change as well.

Local Government Act

The interest in well-being is not something entirely new in the UK, as the Local Government Act of 2000 gave local authorities the power to promote well-being and required them to develop a comprehensive strategy.

What about the happiest cities in the world? According to Forbes magazine, that would be Rio, with its natural exuberance and home to one of the most famous carnivals in the world.

Sydney and Barcelona come second and third respectively, meaning that even sunshine can play an important factor in the ‘happiness’ of a city.

Of course lists can cause controversy and there is never an ‘accurate’ index for happiness, but it is good that the subject suddenly matters, because happiness might turn out to be the thing we should all be aiming for.