Designer friends tell me that when they design a product or system, it's important to ask the right "design question."
Asking the right design question is perhaps most import when it comes to making sure that your product or system does the job.
So when it comes to designing cities or cultures or economies or societies, what should the design question be?
Simple:
What are people for?
Because cities and cultures and economies and societies should be about facilitating the true purpose of people.
And guess what?
If we design our systems that way–chances are–not only will we end up with happier people. We'll end up with a happier and safer planet too.