Joyful People Pillar

Our Joyful People Pillar is about how places affect us individually. It asks: how do our places shape the health, wellbeing and joy of their people?

Your postcode is one of the strongest indicators of your health and life expectancy, showing that the places we live, work and play shape our health and wellbeing. Set as an aspiration of creating joyful people, this Regenerative Pillar aims to shape places to consider how places can:

• Provide the means for people to do what they need to in their daily life. 

• Provide the platform for a healthy lifestyle. 

• Ensure a safe space for all.

• Provide opportunities for growth and a sense of purpose. 
  

These four aspects shape how we measure and shape our places, working holistically with the four other Regenerative Pillars in our model to deliver regenerative, place-based solutions to place development. 

Capacities and Capabilities

Great places enable people to participate in life on their own terms. They meet our basic needs while giving us the confidence, capacity and freedom to understand our surroundings, make choices and do the things that matter to us. This can be as simple as being able to navigate independently to a destination, sit in comfort in a public space, access the services we need, or feel comfortable inviting friends over for dinner. By designing for different abilities, circumstances and stages of life, we create places that don’t just accommodate people; they enable everyone to participate, contribute and belong.

Health and Wellbeing

Great places support us to live healthier, happier and longer lives. The environments around us shape our health every day – from walkable streets that encourage movement and active transport, to cleaner air, access to healthy food, sport and recreation, health services, nature, and communities that care for one another. Our places also have a profound influence on our mental wellbeing. Calmer environments, reduced stress and overstimulation, and everyday contact with nature can help us feel restored, connected and well. By creating places that support people through every stage of life, we can help people age in place, remain connected to their community and maintain the relationships and support networks that sustain them. The choices we make in shaping places are, ultimately, choices that shape people’s health and quality of life.

Safety

Great places allow people to feel safe, confident and comfortable participating in everyday life. Safety is fundamental to whether we choose to walk down a street, spend time in a park, connect with others or return to a place. But safety is more than security; it is a complex, place-based system shaped by our physical environment, our relationships and our sense of belonging. Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED), an internationally recognised approach to creating safer places, has evolved beyond traditional responses such as barriers, surveillance and maintenance. Its second and third generations recognise that lasting safety is also built through social connection, community, environmental quality, economic opportunity and public health. These ideas are deeply aligned with our Regenerative Model: creating places where people look out for one another, feel ownership and belonging, and have the confidence to participate fully in their community.

Sense of purpose and growth

Great places give people the opportunity not just to live, but to grow, contribute and find purpose. Beyond meeting our basic needs, places can create opportunities to learn, work, connect with others, share skills, contribute to community and find meaning in everyday life. Having a sense of purpose can strengthen confidence, life satisfaction, health and wellbeing, while encouraging people to participate more actively in their community. This is shaped not only by the opportunities a place provides, but by its culture; whether people feel welcomed, valued and empowered to contribute. When people are given the opportunity to grow, they bring that energy, knowledge and care back into their communities, helping both people and places to flourish.

How can we help?

Unfortunately, a lot of our places are making us sicker as a population. We are seeing economic-led, quick development end up being a detriment to their places, rather than contributing. From our experience, however, delivering places people love leads to better economic outcomes for places anyway, so why not let us help you deliver places that create more Joyful People? 

At Village Well, we have been working across numerous sectors to do this, such as: 

• Social housing: creating supportive communities, trauma-informed spaces and programs, and pathways for growth

• Aged care: helping aging in place, longevity and social connection

• Precinct and neighbourhood plans: identifying strategic moves for better health and wellbeing, safety and liveability

• Student experience plans: shaping how joy can be built into campus experiences in the changing university landscape

• Main streets and economic centres: building places that people are drawn to, increasing visitation and creating communities that care

• Markets: making a place where traders feel a sense of purpose and visitors love their experiences. 

Get in touch with us if you want to know more.