Urban Planner
As a town planner or spatial planner, you would help to shape the way towns and cities develop. You would balance the demands placed on the land by housing, business, transport, and leisure, with the needs of people and the community. If you are interested in the environment, and you can see different viewpoints and make balanced decisions, this job might suit you well.
You’ll need knowledge of local planning policies and procedures. You’ll also be using your excellent communication, negotiation and presentation skills to apply policies and rules, and share your ideas with people.
Urban planning can be defined as a technical and political process concerned with the welfare of people, control of the use of land, design of the urban environment including transportation and communication networks, and protection and enhancement of the natural environment. Urban development is societal development. Planning and managing the development of contemporary cities is one of the major societal challenges all over the world today.
There is a tremendous scope for urban planning graduates. The program is aimed at providing the students with a sound education in urban and regional planning. As a career, planning offers a real opportunity to play a key role in shaping places and localities across the globe.
Job Responsibilities:
• preparing reports for internal and external publications
• recording minutes at meetings
• building and managing technical libraries, filing systems, and databases
• drawing up plans, using computer-aided design (CAD) software
• carrying out data surveys, for example, traffic impact assessments
• supplying information and data to planners for applications
• recording the progress and outcomes of planning applications
• organizing public meetings
• answering inquiries about application procedures.
You might also work in planning enforcement, which would involve:
• working with individuals and businesses to help them meet the conditions set out in their application decisions
• gathering information to use as evidence in planning disputes
• presenting reports on legislation to planning committees, magistrates and judges.
Employment Opportunities for Urban Planner:
Town planning support staff can work for the government and local authorities. You may also find work in the private sector with real estate companies, housebuilders, supermarkets and utility companies. There may also be opportunities with environmental and conservation bodies.
With experience, you could progress to team leader or move up to the technician level. With further study, you could become a fully qualified town planner. See the Town planner profile in the Related careers section for more details about this role.
How to become an Urban Planner?
There are no set entry requirements to work in town planning support. Employers may expect you to have a good standard of education, such as Graduation, Diploma levels or equivalent qualifications. Relevant subjects include geography, social studies, business studies, English, environmental studies or economics.
Employers value skills that are relevant to the job role. It could help you find work if you have a background and/or qualifications in other areas, for instance:
• customer service
• administration
• planning legislation
• computer-aided design (CAD)
• construction
• surveying
• law.
Who can apply for this: Candidates who passed 10+2 examination in science discipline with Mathematics as one of the compulsory subjects, are eligible for this course. If candidates seeking a Master's degree in Urban planning, he/she must have a bachelor's degree in urban planning.
Median Pay Scale/salary of Urban Planner :
An Urban Planner earns an average salary of Rs 471,672 per year. Most people with this job move on to other positions after 10 years in this field.
Top Graduate Colleges in India:
- Indian Institute Of Technology, Kharagpur
- Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar
- Bengal Engineering College
- Indian Institute Of Technology, Roorkee
- Maharshi Dayanand University
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