This is the final ep for 2022.

Thank you for tuning into this podcast - whether you listen to each episode or whether you have only listened to 1 episode - it really is appreciated!

In this episode, I recap my top 5 topics for planning in Queensland:

1. Climate Change

2. Designing with Country

3. Housing crisis

4. Census 2021

5. Olympics 2032

I mention in the episode that I will link the Olympics 2032 Hopes and Dreams Survey - here it is for anyone who would like to share their thoughts about Olympic legacy

Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games Legacy Plan | DSDILGP - Department of State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning

Have a great break over Christmas and see you in 2023!

Kerry Doss has established a strong reputation as an experienced urban planner and leader during his career. Kerry has in excess of 33 years’ experience in planning & urban development in QLD & NSW.

Prior to establishing his own consultancy firm, he was the Qld State Planner for 5 years, heading up the Planning group within the Queensland Government.

Prior to this role, Kerry headed up Brisbane City Council’s City Planning & Economic Development area for 10 years. As Brisbane’s most senior planner he was responsible for overseeing the planning of Brisbane.

I ask Kerry about:

1. What makes public service a rewarding career?
2. What is your advice to others who are navigating the political and community pressures, with the desire to deliver best practice outcomes?
3. What is the role of planners as change managers? And are we equipped to do that work?
4. What are the key issues and opportunities from your perspective in solving the housing crisis?
5. What are some of the key trends you have observed, particularly through the COVID crisis and what you think will continue into the future?

I hope you enjoy this chat :)

Adam is a smart city guru and urbanist who has worked for private sector consultancies and leading global non-government organisations to advance sustainable community outcomes for over 25 years. Adam is the Head of Digital Urbanism at Ene.Hub. He leads the company's efforts to continually consider what's next for connecting, activating and measuring urban life. Adam was previously the Executive Director with the Smart Cities Council. In this episode, I ask Adam to:

1. reflect on his career and journey into smart cities,
2. why smart cities and what has kept him engaged in this mission driven sector?
3. his achievements at the Smart Cities Council
4. his current work at Ene.Hub - turning basic urban furniture into connected and enabled infrastructure.
5. what is holding us back from truly unleashing the potential of digital on our cities?

I hope you enjoy this chat!

Rachel is a PhD candidate at the University of Queensland. Her research interests include how cities adapt their urban form to changing conditions such as rapid population growth or decline, natural disasters, de-industrialisation and climate change; using GIS to track changes to urban layouts over time, including city blocks, streets and property parcels and how urban policy influences (or fails to influence) desired settlement patterns. Her research on urban infill in Brisbane won the 2021 Queensland PIA Award for Planning Excellence in Planning Research. Rachel has previously worked as a planner and policy advisor, and as a solicitor specialising in planning and environment law.

I chat with Rachel about her latest research - Urban Blandscapes, link here

Urban “Blandscapes”: How the Practical Implementation of Planning Policy Reduces Land Use Diversity: Urban Policy and Research: Vol 0, No 0 (tandfonline.com)

Here is a summary of some of the research findings.

How we accidentally planned the desertion of our cities (theconversation.com)

You can follow Rachel on LinkedIn here Rachel Gallagher | LinkedIn

(huge thank you to Rachel for joining me whilst on maternity leave with her 3 month old baby boy, Frank. You will hear Frank make a cameo appearance, snoring and making some baby noises, throughout this episode, which I absolutely love and hope you do too.)

Luke Brannelly is the founder and Managing Director of the V2i Group, which combines his 35 years of experience in the planning industry as an Urban Designer and Master planning Consultant, 20 years within the digital story and visualisation industry, and the past decade of diversifying these skills into a variety of other industries, including: health, education, online learning, and underground mining induction.

Over the past 6 years, Luke and his team have successfully incorporated many of the new technologies they had developed in other sectors back into the planning industry. With the launch of the interactive 3D software platform V2i Realtime (www.v2irealtime.com), the creation of project-specific ‘digital twins’ enabled a more effective and efficient journey, from “Vision to Implementation”, for all stakeholders.

More info on Luke's company here: V2i Realtime | Join the Revolution

A favourite quote of mine from Luke during the podcast is "Solving problems in the virtual world is so much easier, faster and cheaper than in real life."

A surprising quote from Luke "I've been told by a top tier firm that they believe the majority of built environment professionals can't understand 2D plans. Is it any wonder that the general public struggle to understand what their communities will look like in the future."

I ask Luke these questions:

1. Where did the concept of v2i come from?
2. What inspired you to pursue something so innovative?
3. How do you see the digital tools you’ve built changing the future of planning?
4. What are some of the key challenges and barriers to rolling out v2i more broadly?

A great recent article featuring V2i Realtime as one of 3 global companies which is transforming the global urban design and master planning process! https://www.unrealengine.com/en-US/spotlights/unreal-engine-is-helping-real-estate-developers-to-accelerate-urban-master-planning

Hope you enjoy this discussion!

Dr Stefan Hajkowicz is a principal scientist in foresight and strategy at CSIRO, working in the field of strategic foresight. He has devoted his career to helping governments, companies and communities comprehend patterns of change so they can make wiser choices and secure better futures. Stefan has published widely in the international scientific literature. His work involves a combination of original research and the provision of consulting and advisory services.

Link to the publication is here

Seven megatrends that will shape the next 20 years - CSIRO

Upendo is a Chagga woman from the foothills of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Her diverse upbringing across many countries has nurtured her passion for and proficiency in three languages, as well as her particular interest in how built environments can support cohesive, equitable and productive communities. Upendo has a Bachelor of Urban and Environmental Planning with honours, Masters of Development Practice, Politics of Global Development, Graduate Certificate in Mediation and Conflict Resolution and is IAP2 accredited.

Upendo has over 15 years of professional planning experience across the areas of strategic planning, policy formulation and implementation, and development assessment. She has extensive experience researching, drafting and implementing State policies through the Queensland planning framework.

Upendo has she worked across a diversity of strategic projects with several Aboriginal Shire Councils. During her time with the Queensland Government, Upendo was on the advancing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander interests in land use planning project steering committee as the local plan making/amendment process expert. She also drafted the Planning Act 2016 planning scheme template . Upendo recognises and continues to learn and discover improvements needed to truly advance Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander interests in the Queensland planning and development framework.

I chat to Upendo about:

1. Her upbringing and your journey to Brisbane
2. What led her to studying planning
3. Her university experiences - what were some of the challenges faced in understanding the western approach to development and land use?
4. Her tips and/or advice for current international planning students and/or academics
5. What role does culture have on the Qld planning system? – what are some of the shortfalls?
6. Her advice for planning practitioners in navigating culture in planning

A piece of advice from Upendo – "As planners, we professionally organise places and people and consequently end up putting people into different categories/boxes. I think it’s important to remember that these are just organizational categories and not people’s identities. It is also confusing when new categories are developed and used without your understanding…for me, a key one is People of Colour (POC) which has created a lot of debate on who it captures. It’s also vitally important to be cautious when using them in public or consultative environments because people could take offense or be uncomfortable to be a representative of that category (i.e. grouping of people based on one or two elements)."

Great advice!

Farnoosh Shokoofan is an energetic and innovative planner currently working as a strategic planner at Toowoomba Regional Council. She was awarded a Bachelor’s degree of Urbanism and completed her Masters of Urban Design in 2018. Farnoosh has worked as a planner both in Iran and Australia within various planning and development disciplines. She is the Queensland PIA Young Planner convener - responsible for leading the young planners.

Born and raised in a ‘megacity’, Farnoosh is enthusiastic about people and places. Her interests include placemaking, behaviour settings and analysis of users’ behaviour, and natural disaster resilience, specifically landslide resilience.

I chat to Farnoosh about some of the key issues and opportunities young planners are facing, including:

1. What led her to becoming a planner
2. What she would like to do with the next 5 years of your career
3. Key issues young planners are most passionate about
4. The changing role of a planner
5. New skills that young planner are bringing to the profession

Hope you enjoy this chat :)