In PlanningxChange Episode 65, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Scott Beyer of the Market Urbanism report. This is the first international interview conducted by PlanningxChange!

Scott Beyer is an urban affairs analyst based in New York City. He is founder and owner of Market Urbanism Report, a media organization that promotes free-market urban policy. MUR publishes a weekly article, a monthly podcast, and has active social media accounts with a combined following of over 50,000. 

‍Scott is also a journalist who recently completed a 3-year, 30-city cross-country tour to study urban American issues. He now writes as a regular columnist for Forbes, Governing Magazine, HousingOnline.com, and the Independent Institute. 

Recently he launched a consulting company, Beyer Policy, to build political support around his ideas. BP works with public and private institutions to spearhead pro-market, pro-growth policy in cities across America.

The interview introduces the concept of borrowing more ideas on urban policy from the United States. America has 50 states and each area has its own identity. Within this vast country and different government areas there is the potential for urban policy experimentation on a truly remarkable scale. In addition, the country is known for its free thinking approach to tackling urban issues. Our guest, Scott Beyer seeks solutions to urban problems with a free market approach. Basically this means less government involvement not more, an approach rarely expressed in Australian planning circles. A bold and refreshing speaker with ideas that can add to the 'planning commons' of ideas. 

The interview was recorded using Zoom, the first using our new Rode microphones, we hope to steadily improve the audio quality. Podcast produced by Complete Podcasting Services. Episode released 23 June 2020.

In PlanningxChange Episode 64, Jess Noonan and Peter Jewell interview Tim Biles from Ratio Consultants. Tim has had a long and distinguished career as a lecturer, consultant, advisor and 'creator' of several planning consultancies. We thought Tim would be an excellent commentator on the impacts of Covid 19 and Government retrictions on city life. So many predictions made during the pandemic have turned out in error sometimes of a massive magnitude causing huge dislocation to city life and citzens. The interview considers the concept of 'safeism' and the impact this will have on buildings, personal interaction, general levels of health, economic wellbeing and city living. Will the changes be permanent or soon forgotten? The interview was recorded using Zoom, we apologise for the less than optimal audio quality. We are working on methods to improve the listening experience. Podcast produced by Complete Podcasting Services. Episode released 11 June 2020.