Shows
The PanelThe Panel with Boopsie Maran and Ed McKnight, Part 2In part two, the long-awaited Court Theatre in Christchurch has drawn in excited crowds since opening night - but more than a few have left grumbling about cramped seats and restricted views. Reviewer Sophie Gray gives her two cents. Then, with the future of Te Huia still unknown, a weekend rally was held to support the train between Hamilton and Auckland. It drew a crowd of hundreds, complete with Mr Whippy. Rail advocate Lindsey Horne joins the show.
2026-02-0221 minThe PanelThe Panel with Boopsie Maran and Ed McKnight, Part 1Tonight, on The Panel, Wallace Chapman is joined by panellists Boopsie Maran and Ed McKnight. First up, GPs and nurse practitioners can now diagnose and prescribe medication for ADHD. But not everyone is convinced this is the right way to tackle the massive backlog on diagnoses. Psychologist Giselle Bahr breaks down her concerns. Then, school principals are being stripped of their ability to weigh in on the justification of absences. The Government says the approach was inconsistent and too lenient - but the president of the New Zealand Principals' Federation, Jason Miles, says it's not so straightforward.
2026-02-0224 min
The Smart Community PodcastUsing Data Storytelling to improve the Walkability of Smart Communities, with Boopsie MaranHi #SmartCommunity friends, in this episode of the Smart Community podcast I have a wonderful chat with Boopsie Maran. Boopsie is the founder and director of urban strategy at Places for Good, a collaborative of community advocates, planners, landscape architects, and artists, in Auckland, New Zealand.
Boopsie and I discuss her background and passion for walkability and ensuring the safety of kids independently travelling to school. We discuss what a Smart Community means to Boopsie and why the organisation is called Places for Good.
We talk about how to ask the right questions to collect th...
2023-07-3048 min
Places for Good PodcastWhen We Plan Cities, Consider Children, First - Tim Gill / London “I would be really framing a lot of my conversations about this… about the long-term health and wellbeing and prospects of our youngest citizens.”
“Insight for politicians, anyone who's listening to this who wants to kind of shift the needle on creating more sustainable neighborhoods. Talk about children, talk with children, get children's views into the conversation, and that will help you have a more concrete vision of what direction you need to be going in.”
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Join Boopsie Maran and Bea Enriquez in conversation with Tim Gill author of Urban Playground, How Child-Friendly Urban Plann...
2023-06-2046 min
Places for Good PodcastKristal Çelik - Lisjan / Ohlone Territory (Oakland)Our guest today is a first-generation Turkish-American cultural producer with a background in clean energy engineering. She currently is the manager and curator for the SF Urban Film Fest. This festival uses the power of storytelling to celebrate local culture while generating civic engagement to holistically explain and work through urban issues. She can be found in the Bay Area, working on environmental justice issues, counseling tenants’ on their rights, or supporting volunteers in the Shanti Project.
2022-11-1052 min
Places for Good PodcastPLACES WHERE PLAY UNITES US ALL - Zviko Kanyoka-The case of Play Africa, "Our Ideal World"
A conversation on Design Thinking with Children approach, and how their work supports creativity while empowering them with a problem solving tool they can apply in many areas of their lives.
Our Guest :
Zviko Kanyoka is a Project Manager for placemaking programmes at Play Africa with a background in architecture. Her work is driven by her passion for supporting children’s right to the city through participatory development and by exploring the intersections of child development and the built environment.
Project Description:
...
2022-07-1608 min
Places for Good PodcastPLACES WHERE PLAY SUPPORTS CLIMATE ACTION - Minouche BestersThe case for why it is important to make the connection to places for play and the climate.
A conversation on how placemakers can be at the forefront of climate adaptive practice through tapping into their strong sense of community and localised sense of where the opportunities are.
Our Guest :
Minouche Besters is partner and urbanist at the STIPO team for Urban Development. Her work focuses on creating better places by among others developing inclusion, strengthening the social fabric, organising the commons, working towards the energy transition and involving digital technologies.
Proj...
2022-07-1417 min
Places for Good PodcastPLACES WHERE PLAY HEALS PEOPLE - Vanesa LainezHow play can help children and caregivers to recover from the impact of COVID19 in their mental health?
Healthy environments in all neighborhoods to promote family mental health in a post-pandemic context in developing countries.
Our Guest :
Vanesa’s professional career focuses on the design and management of innovative social projects. Expert in process management, and creating conditions for adequate early childhood development in local urban settings. President of COPERA Infancia for the period 2022-2023.
COPERA Infancia is a network of organizations (12), from different specialties, and independent professionals (21) th...
2022-07-1116 min
Places for Good PodcastPLACES WHERE PLAY UNITES US ALL - Guillermo BernalThe Case of Mexico by Fundación Placemaking Mexico
Low-Cost High-Impact Strategy: 30 Friendly Places for Early Childhood in Mexico
Our Guest :
Guillermo Bernal is the Executive Director of Fundación Placemaking Mexico and Board Member of PlacemakingX. With ten years of experience, he has worked with over 200 public spaces in Mexico, focusing on creating participatory and sustainable communities.
Project Description:
LAPIS is an acronym in Spanish for "Early Childhood Friendly Places." How is this ordinally said in spanish (LAPIS)?Lugares Amigables para la Primera Infancia
The adaptability of m...
2022-07-0719 min
Places for Good PodcastPLACES WHERE PLAY HEALS PEOPLE - Riccardo ContiThe Case of Bar Elias, Lebanon
Participatory Spatial Intervention by Catalytic Action
Winners of the Real Play City Challenge 2020
Our Guest :
Riccardo Luca Conti is the Co-founder and Executive Director at CatalyticAction. He is an architect and urban designer. He has led numerous initiatives, overseeing the design and construction of built interventions with vulnerable communities. He holds an MSc from University College London in Building and Urban Design in Development, and a BSc in Architecture from Politecnico di Milano.
Project Description:
This project in Bar Elias was aimed at red...
2022-07-0714 min
Places for Good PodcastWelcome to the Real Play City Challenge SeriesPLACES WHERE PLAY HEALS PEOPLE
PLACES WHERE PLAY SUPPORTS CLIMATE ACTION
PLACES WHERE PLAY UNITES US ALL
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The Real Play City Challenge awards inspiring cities and urban practitioners that have successfully used placemaking to create environments that give people time, space and opportunities to play.
The Real Play City Challenge is an international competition led by the Real PlayCoalition (Arup, Ingka Group [IKEA], The LEGO Foundation, National Geographic, and UNICEF) and PlacemakingX (represented by STIPO and Huasipichanga).
Register Here: https://www.re...
2022-07-0317 min
Places for Good PodcastA Visit with Village Well In Their New Home In South Melbourne - Gilbert Rochecouste /Join Gilbert as he takes you through Village Well's new co-working space, and learn a bit more about the Epoch Institute and what's to come in their thriving new hub.
2022-06-0702 min
Places for Good PodcastWorking With The People That Call It "HOME" - Matias Lastra - Buenos AiresJoin Boopsie and Matias as they delve deep into the streets of La Boca and San Telmo, some of the oldest barrios of Buenos Aires, Argentina
Matias brings his expertise in social architecture, urbanism, art, and design.
He can be found with his urban design team Urbanismo Vivo.
Episode Notes:
9:40 Participatory process as a crucial step before any design begins. The team will gather information directly from the people living there : from the residents who have the knowledge and who know the neighborhood better than anyone.
14:30 The most important thi...
2022-05-0458 min
Places for Good PodcastPlace Is Political - Maria Adebowale - Schwarte - East London"How do you make sustainable places and communities that recognize human rights and also understand what it means to ensure that everyone has access in a space of rapid urbanization?"
In this episode we delve into the work of Maria Adebowale - Schwarte with the Foundation for Future London.
Episode Notes:
- Foundation for Future London is focusing on a specific area in East London. It is part of a new cultural quarter, and we are there to democratize creativity, access into arts, culture, and placemaking. Our major focus is ensuring that we have open doors into space.
- Covid-19 ha...
2022-04-1935 min
Places for Good PodcastCelebrating Local Mobility Heroes - Maciej Zacher - Skawina"We never closed the road... we opened the roads, to children."
From train station libraries to the impact of Skawina's own local mobility hero, Roman, this episode takes us through what soon might be a 10-minute city.
Episode notes:
Maciej and his mobility team strive to model that most problems are solvable and the team is there to help share solutions.
If we manage safe and sustainable last kilometers to school, we have the ability to improve entire villages.
We are trying to break the cycle and humanize the technical processes.
In translating the needs of all people we can...
2022-03-231h 04
Places for Good PodcastParklets - A Place To Actively Listen - Luisa Bravo - BolognaHow can we open up the barriers of access to public space to more diverse artists and citizens?
In a world where it is normally all about success, public space is an opportunity to trial, experiment, and play in spaces. Parklets provide an opening to actively listen and experiment with solutions that allow us the space to do something differently.
Episode notes:
In this episode we meet with global academic scholar and passionate public space activist Luisa Bravo. Discussing case studies and her practice, we grapple with the complexity of establishing a new mi...
2022-03-0657 min
Places for Good PodcastPrioritising the Human Experience - Chris Bruntlett / DelftReducing the supremacy of the car is a movement that has been percolating in cities across the globe. Celebrated advocate for urban mobility, Chris Bruntlett uses his knowledge and passion to share practical bicycle solutions. Join us, as we deep dive from Delft in the Netherlands to talk all things sustainable safety design, and even learn a little bit about Vancouver's very own "Jane Jacobs"... Shirley Chan.
Episode Notes:
The first 25 years of cycling infrastructure change in the Netherlands was full of innovation and experimentation. It was also full of high profile failures that led to...
2022-02-1559 min
Places for Good PodcastPermission to Play - Bea Enriquez / Tāmaki Makaurau (Auckland)How can we Bridge the trust divide between citizens and their city?
Join Boopsie as she chats with Bea Enriquez - Systems Innovator - Play at Healthy Families Waitākere, Sport Waitākere. Bea works alongside children, community, and stakeholders to support them to think differently. She works tirelessly to improve access to play through influencing planning, urban design, policy, investment and settings so every young person and old in West Auckland can reclaim their childhood.
In this episode we delve deeper into the sharing of ideas and practice to shift investment to be more commu...
2022-02-1043 min
Places for Good PodcastStreets As Places - Nate Hommel / West PhiladelphiaIf we can't say yes, how can we say maybe.
In this conversation with Nate Hommel, Director of Planning and Design for the University City District in Philadelphia we discuss how we can work together to reach that MAYBE.
During the COVID-19 pandemic he served a an expert advisor to the City of Philadelphia to develop the Pandemic Outdoor Dining Guidelines for the entire city in 2020. Aligning his practice with Mike Lydon's belief in "renderings in real-time," Nate talks us through some of his non-permanent trials to give restaurants a chance at survival amidst the p...
2022-02-011h 08
Places for Good PodcastPlanning Cities Hand in Hand with Children - Viviana Cordero / Azuay, EcuadorThe way you are connected to the place goes beyond just yourself.
In this cross-continental conversation with Viviana, she shares parts of her ongoing practice and passion for creating more playful inclusive and liveable cities. As co-founder of Huasipichanga her team works to bring children into the core of the design processes of place. Her organisation encourages and includes the curiosity and lived experience from all stakeholders through public space activations and interventions in the city.
Episode Notes:
Through her practice we learn tools that can enhance the role of the municipality. They do t...
2022-01-311h 06
Places for Good PodcastCreate Beauty First - Gilbert Rochecouste / MelbourneHow do we measure a safe and compassionate city?
In this candid conversation with Gilbert we delve into some historical “illegal acts of love.”( ie: tactical urbanism / placemaking). Learn more about some of his more recent projects like the “new local,” and his emphasis on building deep regenerative capacities for renewal.
Episode Notes -
What value do we put on culture? Here are some key moments that sparked notes …
The MPavilion as the cultural anchor of Melbourne
Moving towards a more citizen based and participatory exchange in our places.
As good placemakers we need to connect and unleash the potential of community...
2021-12-231h 00