Urban Broadcast Collective

In PX107, our interview guest is Kate Hardwick an exceptional planning professional originally from Australia who now works in South East Asia. Kate takes the listener on a fascinating journey describing her professional career. Along the way she offers tips to those starting out and also to those seeking a new direction after a number of years in the job. She talks of recognising and responding to cultural variations and social norms in many different countries. Also in gaining humility and the special ability often overlooked of actually listening and observing. Kate looks back on her early career and identifies key change moments. She also talks of the challenges and rewards of working on large scale new world urban development. There is a particular segment of note on how Singapore does planning. In Podcast Extra / Culture Corner, Kate recommends ‘War Transformed’ by Major General Mick Ryan https://mickryan.com.au/books-%26-writing. Jess recommends the pleasures of farmers markets while Pete reads a poem about his new dog. Audio production by Jack Bavage. Podcast released 27 July 2023. PlanningxChnage is proud to be part of the Urban Broadcast Collective.

In PX106, our interview guest is James Vincent who is the CTO at NCS NEXT Australia, a global digital, data and cloud services consultancy (https://www.ncs.co/en-au/next/). James is a senior people leader with 25 years’ commercial IT experience and an established authority in large-scale strategic transformation in enterprise environments and delivering business outcomes through technology. In this episode James shares four smart city technology solutions government could adopt to improve citizen services amid a rapidly growing urban population. Smart meters, sensor technology and AI in buildings to reduce environmental footprint are some of the examples that James touches on. With Australia’s population projected to reach 30 million between 2029 and 2033, adding pressure to the quality and delivery of services for the community, James describes how it’s becoming more important to leverage modern technology to improve experiences and the efficiency of infrastructure, public transport, travel and roads. He has previously stated: “Urban populations are growing at unprecedented rates, so we need to keep investing in smart city technology to create a brighter and more stable future. When further demand is added to systems such as public transport and traffic networks, some will struggle to cope – leading to overcrowding and poor-quality experiences. “Modern technology is making safe, scalable, sustainable cities and performant governments a reality. In particular, smart city technology helps accommodate large and rapid urban population growth, facilitate resource conservation such as water and carbon, and improve the quality of services for the community across utilities, transport, healthcare, waste management, air quality, safety and wellbeing, and emergency response. “We’re already starting to see various levels of Government engage in public-private partnerships and sponsored collaboration to modernise and advance services through technology. It’s a great step in improving access for citizens and the broader community and one we hope will continue in response to the changing population’s needs.” The concept of ’Smart Cities’ has been touted before. In this episode we talk about how technologies and systems thinking has created previously unrealisable outcomes. James, in a very broad discussion talks about how these technologies are just as relevant in developing nations as they are in first world countries. We also talk about the potential downsides of such technologies in terms of civic life. In the interview we also discuss visions of the future portrayed through popular culture. A wide ranging and testing interview on a topic that those responsibility for cities and towns will have to grapple with. We hope the episode makes a positive contribution to an understanding of the issues. In Podcast Extra / Culture Corner, James recommends the Emperor series by British author Con Iggulden https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conn_Iggulden. The series follows the life of Julius Caesar. On another note he describes his efforts trying to build an acoustic guitar, quite a challenge! He revels in the hands on, craft aspect of the task. Jess has a TV show recommendation, Fisk (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fisk_(TV_series). Pete recommends Wuthering Heights (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuthering_Heights) and the PlanningxChange Spotify playlist! Audio production by Jack Bavage. Podcast released 3 July 2023. PlanningxChange is a proud to be part of the Urban Broadcast Collective.

In PX105, our interview guest is Torie Brown, Executive Director of the Student Accommodation Council. The Council was formed in 2022 by the Property Council to give a voice to the critically important purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) sector which provides homes for over 76,500 students per year, a figure that continues to grow.  https://www.propertycouncil.com.au/advocacy/our-divisions/student-accommodation-council Providing vibrant and connected housing options for students underpins Australia’s largest service export – international education. Ensuring a strong pipeline of beds also reduces pressure on the broader residential rental market by providing a safe, student-only housing choice. Torie talks about the vital importance of this type of housing stock and along the way dispels various misconceptions about the users of such housing and the housing type. She talks about the evolution of design practice and how this is linked to the constant feedback provided by occupants. She also identifies good locational PBSA criteria and makes various suggestions to policy makers on how to facilitate the growth of this sector. There are 200+ PBSA developments in Australia. It is the fourth largest student market in the world. In Podcast Extra / Culture Corner, Torie recommends an article ‘Investors backing student beds in downturn’ (https://www.theurbandeveloper.com/articles/investors-backing-student-beds-in-downturn) and ‘Poker Face’ on Stan (https://www.stan.com.au/watch/poker-face-2023). Jess has no book ar film recommendations but does discuss the joy of setting aside an hour each week, early morning, in a cafe, for ‘life admin’.  Pete recommends the film clip of AC/DC - It’s a Long Way to the Top (If you wanna rock ’n’ roll). The band plays the song on the back of a flatbed truck travelling slowly down the main street of Melbourne’s CBD, in 1976. A great audacious, larrikin performance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQluGs2SFRs). Audio production by Jack Bavage. Podcast released 5 June 2023. PlanningxChange is proud to be an active contributor to the Urban Broadcast Collective.

In PX104, our interview guest is Vanessa Schernickau, the Chief Executive Officer of the Geelong Regional Library Corporation (GRLC). The GRLC provides library and information services to residents and visitors across the Geelong region on behalf of five local government councils. The network consists of a central library, 18 community libraries, three mobile libraries and a website. It provides free, universal access to lifelong learning, reading and discovery.  The Geelong Library began in 1858 as part of the Mechanics Institute. Vanessa talks about her first library book and her lifetime love affair with libraries. She talks of the dynamic changes that have led to the modern library model. This model has changed with the times and now a substantial component of user requirements are not associated with physical books. As the industrialist and great patron of public libraries Andrew Carnegie famously put it more than a century ago, “A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never-failing spring in the desert.” His words ring true today. We chose libraries as an interview topic as they represent one of the few public places in our towns and cities. They also provide a good deal of assistance to people navigating government and commercial services and simply as pleasant places to rest and relax. In Podcast Extra / Culture Corner, Vanessa recommends two books, ‘The Colony’ by Audrey Magee and ’Small things like these’ by Claire Keegan. Jess recommends ‘The House of Eve’ by Sadeqa Johnson. Pete recommends ‘100 Poems, 100 Poets (Hyaku-nin isshu). Audio production by Jack Bavage. Podcast released 1 May 2023. PlanningxChange is proud to be a member of the Urban Broadcast Collective.

In PX103, our interview subject is Tim Jackson, a +40 year veteran of local government in Victoria and South Australia. Tim recently retired for a second time from the paid workforce after completing his four year role as the State Government appointed Administrator at the District of Council of Coober Pedy in South Australia in February. This was the first time an Administrator had been appointed to a South Australian Council in almost forty years. 

Prior to his first retirement, Tim was CEO of the City of Playford in South Australia for eighteen years. Playford was and is South Australia’s fastest growing local government area. At the time of his departure, it was the eleventh fastest growing local government area in Australia. Prior to his time in South Australia, he was employed in Victoria by the City of Prahran which became the City of Stonnington after the reorganisation of local government in Victoria in the early 1990s.

Tim principal interest throughout his career has been about empowering citizens and employees. Tim has simultaneously performed many voluntary non executive roles in the for purpose sector. In Podcast Extra / Culture Corner, Tim recommends Utopia the TV series (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Utopia_(Australian_TV_series) and the biography of Sir Edmund Hillary, ‘Edmund Hillary – A Biography: The extraordinary life of the beekeeper who climbed Everest’ by Michael Gill. Details on Hillary are found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_Hillary Jess recommends ‘Madoff - The Monster of Wall Street’ on Netflix. Pete recommends the short stories of W. Somerset Maugham including ‘Far Eastern Tales’ on Audible. Details of Maugham can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Somerset_Maugham. Audio production by Jack Bavage. Podcast released 24 March 2023. PlanningxChange is proud to be a member of the Urban Broadcast Collective.

In this episode, PlanningxChange delves into the history of heritage conservation in Australia. James Lesh is an urban historian specialising in heritage conservation. He is interested in the potential for history and heritage to enhance cities, places and society. His latest book is Values in Cities: Urban Heritage in Twentieth-Century Australia (Routledge, 2022). It synthesises the history of the Australian heritage movement and advocates for innovative modes of heritage practice. James is a Lecturer in Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies at Deakin University in Naarm/Melbourne, Australia. He has previously researched and taught at the University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, and King’s College London. In podcast extra or culture corner: James recommends ‘The Lost City Of Melbourne’ documentary, ‘Monkey Grip’ - film, ‘Dogs in Space’ - film. ‘The Bear’ TV show. Jess recommends ‘King Richard’ film and yoga as an exercise. Pete recommends ‘The Legend of Ben Hall’ (bushranger movie) and on Youtube ‘The making of The Legend of Ben Hall’. PlanningxChange is a proud member of the Urban Broadcast Collective. Episode released 23 February 2023. Audio production by Jack Bavage.

In PX101 our guests are Natalia Weglarz and Peter Johns. Natalia is a planner at the Canberra office of WSP (www.wsp.com). She has been in Canberra for eight years, prior to that she was in Sydney and the UK. Peter Johns has lived in Canberra since the mid 1960's and has worked as a planner in Canberra over several decades. They describe the history of Canberra, the orginal grand plan for the city developed in 1911, how it has evolved and its role as Australia's most planned city. Should there be greater expectations of a planned city is one of the questions raised. They also talk of the difficult balance (and tensions) between respecting the original strategic plan whilst grafting on changes that reflect modern societal needs. In podcast extra / culture corner, Peter Johns recommends: Jane Harpers ‘Exiles’ (Rural noir theme):https://janeharper.com.au/books/exiles A recommendation Jess endorses. Natalia recommends two items: the podcast ’99% invisible’ https://99percentinvisible.org and Netflix's ‘Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story’ https://www.netflix.com/au/title/81287562 Pete recommends 'Aussie Mega Mechanics' https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/the-screen-guide/t/aussie-mega-mechanics-series-1-2018/37983/ Audio production by Jack Bavage. The episode was released on 8 January 2023.  PlanningxChange is proud to be a member of the Urban Broadcast Collective.

To celebrate our 100th episode of the PlanningxChange podcast series we re-interview four of our previous guests. We ask them about their experiences with the podcast and what has happened in their professional sphere since their earlier interview. To begin with, Jess has a brief introduction where she explains the origins of PX and the subsequent journey over the past eight years. Our first guest is Chris Abery, one of Australia's leading retail planning analysts. Chris is at the consultancy Deep End Services https://www.deependservices.com.au Chris was our very first guest (PX1) on the podcast which was released on 7 December 2014. His podcast extra recommendation is 'get a dog'. His is named 'Freddie'. Our second guest is Liz Hui, an accoustic engineer who is at Marshall Day https://www.marshallday.com.au She is also a Planning Panels Victoria Member. Liz appeared in PX73 which was released on the 22nd December 2020. Her podcast extra recommendation is the Melbourne School of Design (MSD) Youtube channel where a video featuring Trevor Cox 'Soundscapes' should hopefully appear soon. The MSD Youtube channel is at https://www.youtube.com/@MelbourneSchoolofDesign-MSD Our third guest is Mark Sheppard, an urban design expert and author. Mark is at Kinetica https://www.kinetica.net.au/home/ He is also the President of VPELA, our major sponsor https://www.vpela.org.au Mark appeared in PX14 on the 10th December 2015. His podcast extra recommendation is 'Antifragile - Things That Gain from Disorder' by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Our final guest is Nicola Smith, an urban planner who has her business Niche Planning Studio, which has offices in Melbourne and Perth. https://www.nicheplanningstudio.com.au Nicola appeared in PX12 which was released on the 30th October 2015. Her podcast extra recommendation is 'Love Island' https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Island_Australia The edition finishes with some closing comments by Jess and Pete. Audio production by Jack Bavage. The episode was released on 14 December 2022.  PlanningxChange is proud to be a member of the Urban Broadcast Collective.

In PlanningxChange episode 99 our guest is Alex Fenech, a landscape architect based in Florida. At the time we recorded the interview Alex was a Vice President at EDSA (https://www.edsaplan.com) one of America’s leading landscape and urban design firms. Alex is the past President of ALSA Florida (American Society of Landscape architects) - https://www.aslaflorida.org/AboutFL In a wide ranging interview Alex talks of the many parts of a landscape architect’s role. These include not just technical knowledge such as soil types and nutrients, drainage and plant characteristics but also an understanding of how people relate to settings. Alex outlines that ‘people’ are not one standard type but that there are social, cultural and generational differences on how we perceive our environment, and the landscape design needs to understand the variety of user experiences. He talks of the need to plan for the life of a landscape environment in terms of care and maintenance, which is often overlooked. Alex discusses the considerable amenity uplift that well considered landscaping can provide to a variety of settings including as a ‘link’ between buildings, town and city image and the improvement that well curated landscaping can have on heavily used transport corridors. A number of EDSA projects are mentioned as examples. He talks of understanding the client brief and the skill in ‘steering’ a client to possibilities they might not have expected. There are a number of examples he provides in America and overseas where landscaping and urban form produce outstanding sensory perceptions. In Podcast extra or Culture Corner (a segment inspired by the ‘London Calling’ podcast), Alex recommends ‘Drain the Oceans’ shown on National Geographic (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drain_the_Oceans); this program considers the ocean floor using underwater scanning systems that bring new insights into archeology that sometimes challenge conventional wisdom. Jess praises the movie ‘The Lost City of Melbourne’. https://www.thelostcityofmelbourne.org which considers many of the demolished buildings of Melbourne which in contemporary times would obtain heritage listing. Her second ‘extra’ is the book ‘The couple upstairs’, by Holly Wainwright https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781761263071/. ‘Writing with both a light touch and vivid intensity, Holly Wainwright explores love, regret, whether you can stop history repeating, and whether or not you should.’ Pete talks about his life long interest in bushrangers and the website: https://aguidetoaustralianbushranging.com. Audio production by Jack Bavage. The episode was released on 28 October 2022. PlanningxChange is proud to be a member of the Urban Broadcast Collective.

In PlanningxChange episode 98 our guest is Tim Ellis one of the world’s leading magicians. Details about Tim are found at https://www.timellismagic.com and at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Ellis_(magician) What do magic and city planning have in common? The connection to this episode is Tim organising the Melbourne Magic Festival - MMF (https://melbournemagicfestival.com). This is the largest magic festival in the Southern Hemisphere. It typically occurs late June/early July each year. It consists of a main venue in central Melbourne comprising four different sized theatres and various satellite venues in Melbourne’s suburbs and country Victoria. The festival is a purely private venture receiving no public support grants. How is a festival put together? What are the logistics, what makes it a success? How does one gauge success? What does it mean for the host city? Tim with many years of experience organising and financing the MMF is well placed to answer these questions and illuminate the creative impulses and tensions putting on one of Australia’s best events. In Podcast extra or Culture Corner (a segment inspired by the ‘London Calling’ podcast), Tim recommends any ‘Derren Brown Specials’ (on Netflix), master magician and on Disney +, ‘In & of itself’ by Frank Oz. (preview at www.youtube.com/watch?v=_62BeXxd_jo) Jess praises the work and resources available through local historical societies (in Victoria see https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/societies/). Pete talks of an article he has had published in ‘Bellcord’, the newsletter of the Melbourne Tram Museum (https://www.trammuseum.org.au/bellcord.htm) about the Tramway Union Banner of 1916. Audio production by Jack Bavage. The episode was released on 2 October 2022. PlanningxChange is proud to be a member of the Urban Broadcast Collective.