Planning Xchange

Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell
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  • SOCIETY & CULTURE
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Planning Xchange

Planning Xchange is an interview series of built environment professionals doing interesting work beyond the ordinary. Guests include town planners, architects, urban designers, landscape architects, academics, historians, CEO's (and much much more!). Featuring podcast hosts Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell.

  1. MAR 2

    PlanningxChange 128: Emergent Tokyo: Designing the Spontaneous City (author Jorge Almazan)

    In PX128 our guest is architect and author Jorge Almazan. Jorge is a Tokyo-based architect and associate professor at Keio University. He holds a degree in architecture from the Polytechnic University of Madrid and a PhD from the Tokyo Institute of Technology. His practice focuses on ecologically responsible and socially inclusive design, ranging from urban to interior projects. His built work has earned significant recognition in Japan, including the Ota City Urban Landscape First Prize (2019) and selections by the Japan Institute of Architects (2018, 2022) and the Architectural Institute of Japan (2023). Almazán's research on Tokyo has been published in numerous academic journals, and his book, Emergent Tokyo: Designing the Spontaneous City (Oro Editions, 2021), was a finalist for the 2023 Pattis Family Foundation Global Cities Book Award. ‘Emergent Tokyo: Designing the Spontaneous City’ was mentioned in a recent article in the Wall Street Journal about visiting Tokyo on a budget, using the book as a guide https://www.wsj.com/lifestyle/travel/how-far-does-1-000-take-you-on-a-trip-to-tokyo-we-found-out-dd76a5af?st=TeyNL7&reflink=article_copyURL_share In podcast extra / culture corner, Jorge recommends two Netflix programs that feature Tokyo. These are ‘Midnight Diner’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midnight_Diner_(Japanese_TV_series) and ’Tokyo Swindlers’ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokyo_Swindlers. Jess recommends getting back into tennis as she returns to the court. Pete recommends the ‘New Books’ podcast series https://newbooksnetwork.com. Episode PX128 was released on 3 March 2025.

    58 min

  2. FEB 10

    PlanningxChange 127: Derham Groves - Sherlock Holmes and good City Making etc

    In PX127 our guest is architect, former academic and author Dr Derham Groves.  He studied architecture at Deakin University and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology and art history at the University of Minnesota. He taught architecture at RMIT from 1985 to 1997 and the University of Melbourne from 1999 to 2019 and was a Senior Fellow in the Faculty of Architecture, Building, and Planning at the University of Melbourne from 2020 to 2024. Derham is the author of many articles and books about popular culture, architecture, and design, including, Feng-Shui and Western Building Ceremonies (1991), You Bastard Moriarty (1996), Mail Art: The D-I-Y Letterbox from Workshop to Gatepost (1998), TV Houses: Television’s Influence On the Australian Home (2004), Mask: Pro Hart’s Frankenstein Monsters (2006), There’s No Place Like Holmes: Exploring Sense of Place Through Crime Fiction (2008), Victims and Villains: Barbie and Ken Meet Sherlock Holmes (2009), Anna May Wong’s Lucky Shoes: 1939 Australia Through the Eyes of an Art Deco Diva (2011), Out of the Ordinary: Popular Art, Architecture and Design (2012), Hopalong Cassidy: A Horse Opera (2017), Monkeemania in Australia: Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of The Monkees’ Australian Tour in 1968 (2019), Arthur Purnell’s “Forgotten” Architecture: Canton and Cars (2020), Sherlock in the Seventies: A Wild Decade of Sherlock Holmes Films (2021), Australian Westerns in the Fifties: Kangaroo, Hopalong Cassidy on Tour, and Whiplash (2022), and Homicide on Hydra: George Johnston’s Crime Novels (2023). His latest book, Walt Disney’s Forgotten Australia: From Mickey’s Kangaroo to Outback At Ya! has been released in February 2025. Derham agrees with the Austrian architect Hans Hollein that ‘Everything is architecture,’ and the American designer Charles Eames who said, ‘Eventually everything connects—people, ideas, objects.’  Episode released 10 February 2025.

    51 min

  3. JAN 19

    PlanningxChange 126: Key to the City - How Zoning Shapes Our World: Sara Bronin

    Our guest is Sara Bronin a Mexican-American architect and attorney whose interdisciplinary research focuses on how law and policy can foster more equitable, sustainable, well-designed, and connected places. She is the author of Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes Our World, and she founded and directs the National Zoning Atlas, which aims to digitize, demystify, and democratize information about zoning in the United States. She has advised the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Sustainable Development Code, has served on the board of Latinos in Heritage Conservation, and founded Desegregate Connecticut. Previously, she led the award-winning, unanimously adopted overhaul of the zoning code and city plan of Hartford, Connecticut. Bronin holds a juris doctor from Yale Law School, a master of science from the University of Oxford (Rhodes Scholar), as well as a B.Arch. and B.A. from the University of Texas–Austin. In podcast extra / culture corner Sara recommends ‘Climate Change and Historic Preservation  ‘ (Sept 2024) https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/ll/llglrd/2024555212/2024555212.pdf. Jess recommends the Martha Stewart documentary on Netflix (https://www.netflix.com/au/title/81479059) and Pete recommends two books and making omelettes. Episode released 19 January 2025.

    52 min

  4. 12/27/2024

    PlanningxChange Episode 125 - PX turns 10, reflections and an Ai Review

    In this episode, Jess and Pete reflect on the tenth anniversary of the PlanningxChange podcast. This discussion occurs before an Ai review of the planningxchange podcast series. A rather indulgent episode to mark the anniversary! For podcast extra / culture corner, Jess recommends making pizzas at home with the family. Her New Year resolution is to have more interesting podcast extra recommendations.  Pete recommends doing background research about books you like. He also discusses film locations and the potential for cultural tourism. On YouTube there are various films about film locations. The film Pete mentions is Mad Max. There are now transcripts for the episodes. These will progressively be included for previous editions. The transcripts generally reflect what is said in the episode (they are altered to improve grammar etc). Audio production by Jack Bavage. Podcast released on 27 December 2024.

    38 min

  5. 12/07/2024

    PlanningxChange 124: Public Toilets with Katherine Webber

    Katherine is a social planning practitioner with over 14 years’ experience working for a range of government and non-government organisations in Australia and the Pacific. Katherine has considerable experience in developing and implementing community plans, programs and policy to improve social inclusion and participation. Katherine was awarded the 2018 Rodney Warmington Churchill Fellowship to increase inclusion and accessibility in public toilets by researching taboos, design, policy and legal barriers. The Churchill Fellowship consolidated previous work with planners, institutions and community members identifying public toilets as essential to support the participation of a wide section of our communities. Photos of many toilets Katherine has visited are documented via Instagram @Public_Toilets_Anonymous. Katherine appears on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yh7UQziutv8 talking about her work.  Discussion mentions the film ‘Perfect Days’ which is set amongst Tokyo’s public ‘art’ toilets (https://www.archdaily.com/1018293/perfect-days-an-ode-to-tokyos-public-toilets). Mention is also made about Singapores ‘Happy Toilet Program’ (https://www.toilet.org.sg/docs/HTPBrochure.pdf) For podcast extra / culture corner, Katherine recommendations ‘Birnam Wood’ by Eleanor Catton https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/60784757-birnam-wood. She also recommends the ‘Public Toilet’ app. Jess recommends outsourcing at home in times of stress relying upon the ‘diner lady’. Pete recommends the ‘Transit maps’ app, and secondly, YouTube Premium. Audio production by Jack Bavage. Podcast released on 7 December 2024.

    45 min

  6. 11/12/2024

    PlanningxChange 123: Build Baby Build, with author Bryan Caplan

    In PX123 our guest is Bryan Caplan. Bryan is Professor of Economics at George Mason University and a New York Times Bestselling author. We interview him about his ground breaking graphic novel ‘Build, Baby, Build - The Science and Ethics of Housing Regulation’. The book is so described: 'In Build, Baby, Build: The Science and Ethics of Housing Regulation, economist Bryan Caplan makes the economic and philosophical case for radical deregulation of this massive market―freeing property owners to build as tall and dense as they wish. Not only would the average price of housing be cut in half, but the building boom unleashed by deregulation would simultaneously reduce inequality, increase social mobility, promote economic growth, reduce homelessness, increase birth rates, help the environment, cut crime, and more. Combining stunning homage to classic animation with careful interdisciplinary research, Build, Baby, Build takes readers on a grand tour of a bona fide “panacea policy.” We can start realizing these missed opportunities as soon as we abandon the widespread misconception that housing regulation solves more problems than it causes.’ The book is a must read for planning undergraduates and all policy makers involved in the housing sector. Other books he has written include The Myth of the Rational Voter, named "the best political book of the year" by the New York Times, Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids, The Case Against Education, Open Borders (co-authored with SMBC's Zach Weinersmith), Labor Econ Versus the World, How Evil Are Politicians?, Don't Be a Feminist, Voters As Mad Scientists, You Will Not Stampede Me, and Self-Help Is Like a Vaccine. He is now writing Unbeatable: The Brutally Honest Case for Free Markets.  In Podcast Extra / Culture Corner Bryan recommends ‘The problem with political authority’ by Michael Huemer (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Problem_of_Political_Authority). He also recommends the Youtube series 'Ride with Gabi'  https://www.youtube.com/@ridewithgabi  Jess has gone back to duolingo, learning Italian (https://www.duolingo.com). Pete recommends the Netflix K Rom - com ‘Business Proposal’. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_Proposal) Audio produced by Jack Bavage. Podcast released 12 November 2024.

    53 min

  7. 10/22/2024

    PlanningxChange 122: Rafael Mangual - Crime + City Planning

    In PX122 our guest is Rafael Mangual a distinguished writer and researcher on crime issues in cities and regions. He is the Nick Ohnell Fellow at the Manhattan Institute (MI), a contributing editor of City Journal, and a member of the Council on Criminal Justice. His first book, Criminal (In)Justice, was released in July 2022. He has authored and coauthored a number of MI reports and op-eds on issues ranging from urban crime and jail violence to broader matters of criminal and civil justice reform. His work has been featured and mentioned in a wide array of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, The Atlantic, New York Post, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer and City Journal. He regularly appears on TV and radio. In a wide ranging interview, Rafael explains various criminology theories about urban environments and how design measures can reduce crime. He talks about how crime reduces urban amenity, the consequences for the most disadvantaged and if unchecked how lax civic and legislative standards create a doom loop.  Rafael presents an inspiring and well thought out approach to addressing a very serious urban issue that rarely receives any attention in urban planning circles.  In Podcast Extra / Culture Corner Rafael recommends fitness accounts and trackers. Jess recommends attending professional conferences. Pete recommends ‘The Passage of the Damned’ by Elsbeth Hardie https://scholarly.info/book/the-passage-of-the-damned/’. Audio produced by Jack Bavage. Podcast released 23 October 2024.

    1h 1m

  8. 09/10/2024

    PlanningxChange 121: Calvin Po - new ways of thinking and doing

    In PX121 our guest is Calvin Po (https://www.calvinpo.com). Calvin Po is a strategic designer at Dark Matter Labs, co-leading the Radicle Civics portfolio, where he explores institutional and governance systems as sites of design. He has led projects with the Scottish Government’s Land Commission on land governance reform, the Taiwanese Government on decentralised web3 civic infrastructure, and is developing multi-actor governance approaches for river ecosystems, and in FreeHouse, a commons housing model based on ‘self-owning’ houses. At the Architectural Association School of Architecture, Calvin is a unit master of Diploma 9, ‘Universal Free Housing’, focusing on strategic, policy, and economic pathways for realising housing as a universal human right. He studied architecture at UCL Bartlett, where he graduated top of class as a RIBA Donaldson Medallist, and he was a scholar at the AA, where his Diploma thesis won the Dennis Sharp Prize and was a finalist for RIBA President's Awards for Research 2021. Calvin is also a writer, publishing most regularly as an architecture critic for The Spectator magazine. His research interests and writing include topics on land, territory, and its political systems. In podcast extra / culture corner, Calvin Po recommends the movie Tar directed by Todd Field (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tár); Jess recommends the Netflix program ‘Red Eye’ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0421239/ and Pete recommends ‘War Gamers’ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IikLz4GL8uw and https://www.zdf-studios.com/en/program-catalog/international/unscripted/history-biographies/war-gamers Audio produced by Jack Bavage. Podcast released 11 September 2024.

    49 min
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About

Planning Xchange is an interview series of built environment professionals doing interesting work beyond the ordinary. Guests include town planners, architects, urban designers, landscape architects, academics, historians, CEO's (and much much more!). Featuring podcast hosts Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell.

Information

  • Creator
    Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell
  • Years Active
    2014 - 2025
  • Episodes
    128
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Show Website
    Planning Xchange

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