Episode description

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.