Montréal, A City of Wellbeing

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As Mayor of Montréal and Advisory Board Member for The NewCities’ Wellbeing City Award, I would like to first and foremost congratulate all finalists prior to the Wellbeing Cities Forum for their work in placing wellbeing at the core of their design, planning, and urban policies.

Home to NewCities’ headquarters, I will have the honor of hosting the first edition of the Wellbeing Cities Forum June 19-20 in Montréal. This event will provide a unique opportunity to recognize how local governments are innovating to improve urban quality of life.

With over half of the world’s population living in cities, urban density has reached new heights in the 21st century. This significant population increase poses a variety of new challenges for municipal administrations.

Today’s municipalities play a major role in urban innovation. They are responsible for promoting emergent sustainable neighborhoods and for providing an optimal living environment. They must place the wellbeing of their citizens at the very heart of their policies and decision-making without losing sight of the bigger picture: creating a sustainable future for generations to come.

This undertaking requires our consistent commitment to social cohesion, as well as tireless evaluation and evolution of our methods.

Montréal is Québec’s metropolis, and our city-region is home to more than 2 million inhabitants. We are a perfect example of a place characterized by progressive development, and our administration’s vision is to place citizens at the very heart of all decision-making process. In doing this, we center urban development around habitability, diversity, inclusion, and creativity.

We believe that by encouraging creativity in our community, we can tackle urban challenges more effectively. This is why we organize citizen consultations and co-creation workshops for future planning initiatives: we want to hear our citizens’ voices and learn more about what they find most important.

Community is also at the center of our Smart City objectives. We use technology as a tool to improve the quality of life in our communities. We provide our residents with an array of online municipal services and advance democratic participation through digital municipal voter information systems.

Our metropolis is aware that in order to effectively address current environmental issues caused by climate change, we must preserve our living environments. This is why the City of Montréal, along with local partner organizations, has made strong commitments to sustainable development.

Wellbeing in Montréal is everybody’s business. From politicians to the private sector, visitors to residents, we must all place importance on the factors that enhance quality of life. Montréal’s green spaces, sustainable mobility and public transit systems, local businesses, and the city’s own knowledge and talent pool all play a positive and proactive role in improving the wellbeing of our population.

You will have the opportunity to discover Montréal’s initiatives in wellness, and the reason why it is well renowned for its exceptional quality of life during the Wellbeing Cities Forum.

I remain very enthusiastic at the thought of meeting with mayors to discuss and discover the qualities that make their cities exceptional. Because as leaders, we have the ability to improve the quality of life of our fellow citizens in a sustainable way.