In this episode, I chat with planner, urban thinker and community engagement guru, John O’Callaghan, Director of JOC Consulting. John isn’t your average planner – and that’s exactly why I wanted him on the show. He’s a creative, a connector, and someone who’s built a career around authentic community engagement and transformational city ideas. Toda…

In this episode, I sit down with Michelle Howard, respected urban planner, social researcher, facilitator, and Managing Director of Collaborations. Michelle is known for her inclusive and thoughtful approach to public policy and urban development, and she joins us to discuss what First Nations allyship looks like in planning—and how we can all embr…

This is my first solo episode for Season 3! With the federal election only a matter of days away, I step through the Planning Institute of Australia's Federal Election Platform. In this solo chat, I explain: What are the key asks of the planning profession for the next Australian Government? How can the next Australian Government help facilitate mo…

In this episode, I’m joined by Bradley Rasmussen – CEO and founder of Sizztech, the creators of Forecaz, a cutting-edge platform that predicts urban growth and change. Bradley shares how data-driven modelling is transforming the way planners and decision-makers understand land use, infrastructure needs, and future development scenarios. We unpack t…

In this episode of the Hustle and Bustle podcast, host Nicole Bennetts sits down with architect and urbanist Peter Richards to explore the art of urban sketching. With over 40 years of experience in architecture and urban design, Peter shares his passion for the role of drawing in the design process and its significance in shaping our cities. Peter…

Housing affordability and availability are at crisis levels, but why? And what can we do about it? In this episode, we sit down with Riley Flanigan, an urban designer, strategic planner, and city strategist at Urbis, to unpack the forces behind Australia’s housing crisis. Riley has been at the forefront of housing research, policy, and advocacy, in…

In this episode, I'm joined by Laura Harvey, Planning Manager at Queensland Airports, and Haleen Singh, Planning Advisor with Port of Brisbane. We explore the unique world of planning for airports and ports—two critical transport hubs that serve as economic drivers, destinations, and catalysts for urban and regional development. Episode Highlights:…

In this episode, I sit down with Chris Isles, General Manager of Advocacy, Major Projects, and Economic Development at Redland City Council. With over 20 years of experience in planning, economic development, and major projects, Chris is a well-respected leader in the industry. As a member of PIA Qld’s Plan Tech working group, Chris has a strong in…

My guest today is Adam Beck, General Manager of Business & Market Development at Hub Group and Co-Founder of TEMPO Institute. About two weeks ago, the American Planning Association released its fourth Trend Report for Planners, featuring over 100 trends shaping urban planning. You can access the report here 2025-Trend-Report-for-Planners-Screen-Rea…

In this episode, I sit down with Leisa Prowse, a highly regarded engagement specialist. Leisa is qualified in both planning and communications, and has extensive experience helping planners and developers to secure 'social license to operate' for planning and development projects. More about Leisa here About Us - Leisa Prowse Consulting We chat abo…

In this episode, I chat with Julia Miller-Randle, Director of Social Strategy and Engagement at Cred Consulting. We chat about the importance of social and community infrastructure. What is it? Why its important? How its changing? The biggest challenges in funding and delivery of social infrastructure? And some tips and tricks for others interested…

Paul Burton is an Emeritus Professor at Griffith University. Paul was the inaugural Director of the Cities Research Institute at Griffith University, a multi-disciplinary research centre focused on advancing studies and knowledge of cities. Paul is also a member of PIA Qld’s Division Committee and chairs the Education Sub-Committee. Paul and I chat…

A conversation with Ross Elliott and Guy Gibson from Suburban Futures who co-edited the book "The Next Australian City". This book recently was awarded Overall Winner of the PIA Awards for Planning Excellence in Queensland. This interview covers details about the book, what inspired it, who authored the chapters, and how it doesn't shy away from th…

The Hustle and Bustle podcast returns after a 2 year break!! Nicole is excited to kick-start season 3 in this episode. She fills you in on the latest happenings.By Nicole Bennetts

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 men…

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 Governmen…

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 measuri…

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 …

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: he…

A once-in-a-decade report from CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, identifies seven global megatrends that hold the key to the challenges and opportunities ahead. The report is called Our Future World 2042. A lead author of this publication, Dr Stefan Hajkowicz, joins me on the podcast this week to discuss the 7 megatrends. The seven global…

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 Enviro…

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 t…

Dale is a mobility thought leader - enabling transformative and resilient sustainable solutions. At the City of Vancouver, Dale led the transport planning for many years including for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, created their first Active Transportation team, and most recently led their Transportation Planning, including new sustainable mobility…

Michael Papageorgiou is the Director of an Urban Planning consultancy based in Brisbane. He has 40 years’ experience in the planning industry, including senior executive planning roles in State and Local Government, in both Queensland and Victoria. Michael is a Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) and has had an active role in PIA. M…

Patrick Gorr is a Arup's Global Hydrogen Leader. His specializes in energy and hydrogen, and the transition to net zero energy production. Patrick is a chartered accountant by profession, Patrick holds a Bachelor of Business, Economics, Accounting and International Trade from Swinburne University of Technology, and has held senior strategic roles, …

Dr Margaret Cook has been a freelance historian for many years, working in the heritage, museum, government and private sectors. She holds a PhD in history from the University of Queensland and her current research interests include natural disasters, rivers, water politics, and environmental history. Margaret is a history lecturer at the Universit…

Prof. Barbara Norman is the Foundation Chair of Urban and Regional Planning and Director of Canberra Urban and Regional Futures at the University of Canberra. She has a substantial professional background having worked at all levels of government and her own private practice. Her current research and teaching interests include sustainable cities an…

I spent the week in Hobart last week, attending and presenting at the Planning Institute of Australia National Congress. The theme was Opportunities in times of crisis, and this was the first time in 3 years that PIA has held a national planning conferences in person. In this episode, I summarize the top 10 lessons that I have acquired from the ama…

Matt Gross is a well-known property economist, urban geographer, and sociologist based in Brisbane. Matt heads up one of Australia's most respected property research houses that has grown on the back of honesty, integrity and innovation, National Property Research Co. Matthew is highly regarded as being able to provide both strategic direction and …

Jason Byrne is a Professor of Human Geography and Planning at University of Tasmania. He researches urban political ecologies of green-space, climate change adaptation, and environmental justice. He has over 100 scholarly publications, including a multi-award-winning co-edited book - Australian Environmental Planning: Challenges and Future Prospect…

PechaKucha is a global forum where ideas are pitched in a few minutes. Two of our great local architects, Katherine Rickard and Dave Hanson, have launched PechaKucha Gold Coast! With their first event in March a huge success, future PechaKucha nights will be held quarterly across the City. PechaKucha means "chit chat" in Japanese. This creative out…

Martin is an RPEQ, with a dual degree in civil engineering and business management. He is a stormwater and flooding engineer, with a vast range of experience focused mainly within the development and construction space. Martin has managed teams of flood engineers both in Australia and Vietnam, delivering projects to both government and private sect…

Brittany Lauga MP is the State member for Keppel and Assistant Minister for Education. Elected in 2015, Brittany is an award-winning Urban and Regional Planner prior to politics. Brittany has a strong professional background in infrastructure, urban planning and design, approvals and community development. She is passionate about her community. Bri…

Noel Grummitt is a town planner and civil engineer. Noel has 50 years planning and development experience primarily in South East Queensland. Prior to founding Grummitt Planning Noel also gained valuable experience overseas, culminating in 1997, spending the remaining 7 years as town planning manager for Weathered Howe Gold Coast, preparing concept…

Matt Collins is a highly skilled and experienced planning leader with a background in political studies and journalism. He is currently the QLD and NT State Manager for the Planning Institute of Australia. In this week's episode, I ask Matt about politics and planning. We also discuss what the Planning Institute's priorities are. Matt has significa…

This week on the podcast, I am joined by the first Arup-ian to join me on the podcast, Mr Jaime Traspaderne. Jaime is an architect, urban designer with international experience, he is the Arup Qld leader for Urban design and Master planning, and co-leader of Cities local business leader for Qld. Jaime has expertise and passion for designing communi…

This week on the podcast, I interview Dr. Sharon Harwood. Sharon is passionate about working with communities to develop place-based solutions to planning challenges. Her specialty and passion is in Indigenous planning and planning for Aboriginal and Torres Strait land owners. She has extensive experience engaging with communities through Northern …

Welcome back to season 2 of the podcast! First episode back for 2022, and I am so thrilled to be joined by the 2021 Qld Young Planner of the Year, Nicholas Kamols. Nick is an exciting up and coming planner, who is really pushing the boundaries of traditional urban thinking. He is innovative, passionate, motivated and is really re-defining what it m…

In this episode, I interview Dorina Pojani, who is Senior Lecturer in urban planning at The University of Queensland. Her research interests encompass built environment topics, including urban design, urban transport, and urban housing, in both the Global North and South. She has completed her graduate studies in the US and Belgium, besides her nat…

This week I interview Matthew Leman. Matt is an urban and regional planner, having graduated from QUT in 2016, and has worked across private sector, State and local governments. He is also a digital native, meaning he was born after the internet. Matt brings a unique perspective to planning and asks “how can we ensure ‘planning’ is bought up-to-spe…

This episode is an update & apology for skipping 2 weeks of podcast episodes! I made it 15 weeks in a row of new weekly episodes. But a range of professional events have occurred post-covid restrictions which has meant I needed to have a short break from podcasting. Good news is I’m now back for the rest of this season, with only a few more episode…

This week on the podcast, I interview Dr Stefan Hajkowicz. Dr Stef is Principal Scientist at CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency. At CSIRO, he is Director of Data 61, leading a team of researchers helping governments, companies and communities explore plausible futures and make wise choices. Stefan is widely published in international litera…

This week I sat down with Amy Degenhart, Director of degenhartSHEDD urban design + architecture. Amy is the driving force (architect & developer) behind exemplar missing middle housing, including ENVI micro urban village in Southport, Gold Coast CBD. ENVI is an award winning exemplary small lot house and land development, featuring 10 terrace home …

In this episode, I chat with Nicole Boulton. Nicole is Principal Planner at PSA consulting and the new Chair of the Professional development committee at Planning Institute of Australia Queensland division. Nicole is also a mother of 2 young children, a wife, and volunteers on her son‘s P&C Committee. I chat with Nicole about her new role as PD cha…

This episode is an interview with Professor Matthew Burke, transport planning specialist and is based at Griffith University in Cities Research Institute. Prof Burke is a transport planning guru who is an expert at all things transport in the growing region of south east Queensland. I ask Matt all of the hard questions, such as: should Light Rail b…

In episode 11 of the podcast, I chat with Laura Gannon. Laura and I discuss climate change, and the role planning must play in preventing, adapting and mitigating to climate change. Laura is Associate Director of Meridian Urban and is a natural hazards planning specialist. I ask Laura about the upcoming COP26 climate change conference in the UK and…

This is a solo episodes recapping on previous episodes, top 3 lessons learnt from previous guests, and discussing future trends which will affect cities and regions over next 5, 10, 20 years.By Nicole Bennetts

This week on the podcast I chat with Natalie Rayment, co-founder of YIMBY, a non for profit organisation saying Yes In My Backyard to good development and city growth. I ask Natalie about YIMBY: • Where did it all start? • What does YIMBY stand for? • How do we improve community participation in planning and development? • What are some of the bene…

This week on the podcast I interview Greg Tupicoff. Greg is General Manager of Alder Developments and is a well respected development professional. Greg is best known for leading the development of Flagstone which is Australia’s largest satellite city. We chat about:•Why developers are a critical part of good planning and sustainable growth. •How d…

This week on the podcast, I interview Martin Garred, and we discuss the recent publication Great ideas for the Gold Coast 2021. Martin led the creation of both editions of this publication, the first in 2017 and now the new edition. Martin is a town planner and Director at Civity, interim General Manager of Planning and Environment at Cairns Region…