Urban Planning As A Career

An urban planner basically ideates a town and community after thoroughly researching and conducting surveys about community needs. An urban planner’s job involves studying the needs of the community and creating plans for towns and public spaces. The majority of planners invest a lot of time in teamwork. They frequently collaborate with developers, engineers, architects, and public officials. They frequently give presentations, attend meetings, and manage projects. Urban planning is a career that places a strong emphasis on the future while also addressing issues and difficulties in the here and now, so it is only natural to wonder about its prospects.

Urban Planning As A Career

Urban planning as a career

The urban planner also has many responsibilities. Urban planners must assess the community’s needs and develop plans to rebuild or create a community area in order to guarantee that all facilities are offered. They must discuss development plans with the public and government officials and also consult them.

All planners ensure the optimization of the community land and make the best use of the resources for residential, commercial, or recreational purposes. They operate in a manner similar to environmental regulations.

Planners create strategies based on research to solve issues or accomplish goals. To improve planning, they review site plans and examine economic and environmental data.

However, the responsibilities of an Urban Planner vary as per the type of job role.

Six major types of job roles available for Urban Planners

Regional Planner

A regional planner is someone who caters to the regional area or the rural area. They look after the land and other resources required to build and plan a rural area. Using land resources for better development and reconstruction of regional areas is the specialty of a regional planner.

Transport Planner

Transport planners ensure that they build better routes for owners of warehouses and truck owners. They cater to the requirements of different transport users through a transportation planner’s plans.

Surveyors

Surveyors are people who work for Urban planners. They basically survey the land available and make a report about the quality and structure of the land. This report is submitted to the Urban Planner to help them construct ideas accordingly. 

Land Planner

These professionals consult with landowners, developers, and government representatives to determine the best way to use the available land while taking economic, environmental, and societal considerations into account.

These individuals work to improve land development and guarantee the best possible use of available space.

Economic Development planner

As the name suggests, they evaluate the economic factors of a property or land. They are experts who use the resources efficiently to support the economic growth of a community.

Project Planner

Project Planners look after different ongoing projects. they manage to monitor and complete numerous projects that are planned, and carried out, and ensure that the projects are completed within the given schedule and within budget.

Salary

The salary of an Urban planner differs in India depending upon their job roles. It ranges from 5 lakhs to 7 lakhs INR. The highest-paid job role is of the project planner who earns 7 lakhs INR, per annum. Urban planners and Transport planners are the next highest paid, with an income of 6 lakhs INR and 6.7 lakhs INR, respectively. The regional planners earn 5 lakhs INR, and the surveyors earn 5.9 lakh INR.  

In the United States, the mean annual salary for urban and regional planners in the United States was $81,310 as of May 2021, according to the BLS. The average yearly salary for those in the top 25 percent is $99,090, while that for those in the top 10 percent is $119,340. Here the salary differs as per the cities. Highest paid city is the District of Columbia with an income of $107,330. While Nevada is the lowest with an income of $92,280.

Skills required for Urban Planners

  • Urban planners must have brilliant organizational skills. They should understand the significance of management and ideating and decluttering various plans, to come to a final one.
  • They must be exceptional planners. They should know how to plan to keep all the pros and cons in mind.
  • They should know to turn a space into a place that the urban population can live in. Urban planners must assess the potential of the area and create workable plans.
  • Being an urban planner, you also need to have good decision-making skills. This is mainly because while you are doing your job, there is a good chance of your decision being manipulated by several factors like government officials, sudden changes in the community demand, etc. You have to keep all these things in mind and then come to a decision that will benefit the community. As part of their duties, urban planners evaluate each option and choose the one that will best fit the budget.
  • Creativity is another important aspect of this job. You need to think out of the box because you have to build a community place that will not only be convenient but should also be attractive with a phenomenal design. A creative mindset can help an urban planner better visualize urban structures and landscapes.
  • Technical knowledge is also essential in this field. A creative mindset is of no good without knowing the software to prepare a blueprint. To plan, design, and execute a range of urban projects, urban planners must be skillful with various software programs. 

Career potential 

For Urban planners, a number of opportunities exist in the housing sector as well as in the planning of transportation, environmental protection, the public sector, real estate, services firms, and non-profit housing institutions.

Urban planning as a career are in high demand as governments and businesses search for novel, imaginative solutions to these complex global challenges. Working in town and regional planning will enable you to contribute to the development of a more inclusive and sustainable future for future generations.

There are a number of industries that have a high demand for Urban planners. Government fields, including central and state government, the Education sector, and transport agencies, are some of them. Along with this, even Construction firms need Urban planners to envision different areas which could be redeveloped and constructed. Even architects and engineering consultation services have a high demand for Urban planners for this very particular reason. 

These are some excellent recruiters for Urban Planning as a career in India

Townland Consultants 

ICRA Management Consulting 

CRISIL Risk and Infrastructure Solution 

Tata Consulting Engineers 

Urban Planning As A Career

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