Exploring Urban Troubleshooting

In this episode, Heath Gledhill and Tom Shield, founders of GledHill Shield, share their extensive experience navigating complex urban infrastructure projects. They discuss how early decision-making, constraints and collaborative design principles can transform city development. Whether you're an urbanist, engineer, architect, designer or planner, their insights challenge conventional project setups and advocate for more intentional, purposeful city shaping.

Key Topics:

• The importance of framing the core problem before designing solutions
• How constraints foster innovative and effective urban design
• The role of the business case in guiding project decisions and maintaining focus
• Challenges with briefs, approvals and stakeholder engagement in infrastructure projects
• The power of compromise and trade-offs in city development
• Embedding aspiration and community impact through creative public programs
• Cross-disciplinary integration as a necessity for successful urban projects
• The influence of cultural attitudes—Australia, Canada, the UK—on project delivery
• The potential of digital tools and visual artifacts to ground project vision
• Building trust and social license through transparency and stakeholder inclusion
• The value of humility, purpose and intentionality in urban planning