Becoming an URBAN PLANNER Are you considering a career in urban planning? Becoming an Urban Planner is the best place to start. Through in-depth interviews with more than eighty urban planners across the United States and Canada, this book gives you a valuable insider’s look at your future profession as it is lived and practiced. Becoming an Urban Planner introduces you to the urban planning profession—its history, what you must know to prepare for a career in planning, and the different types of planning jobs. Beyond the basics, though, it shows you the realities of what it’s really like to be a planner today. You’ll learn about: The skills you’ll need and how to hone them in school and on the job Potential career paths and what people in these positions do Using internships, job shadowing, and other opportunities to break into the field Deciding among planning specialties and moving between public and private sectors How to search for and get your first position Emerging areas in planning, including sustainability and climate change Each topic is explored through in-depth interviews with both generalists and others who have devoted their careers to a particular aspect of planning. These professionals share their insights and describe how they have arrived at where they are and how beginners like you can learn from their experiences. With the information from this book to guide and inspire you, you will be able to chart your own path to success as an urban planner.

Discusses what type of schooling you have to have to go into urban planning and what you would do in that career.

Planetizen's Insider's Guide gives you a guided look at the variety of fascinating careers available in planning, design and development. Interviews with professionals from A (Architect) to Z (Zoning Administrator) reveal the challenges and rewards of their work, and their advice on how to get a job. We've included lists of significant employers and additional resources for every area of practice, and salary examples.

URBAN PLANNING IS A CAREER WHOSE TIME has come. The concept of urban planning, or regional planning, has been around for centuries but only in recent years has the need for planning become so acute that essentially every city, county, state, and some private corporations, all have planners on their payrolls. The simplest reason for this new appreciation for planning is that there are more people but the same amount of land to live on. This requires planning. The more nuanced reason is that people want a different quality of life than their ancestors did. Few people today are willing to be squeezed into the tenement buildings of the past, to live in small spaces, crammed together with neighbors, with little light or air. Many people place a premium on "walkability," loosely defined as the ability to get around and tend to your business without needing a car. The environmentally sensitive want to limit additional development on the urban fringe but still have easy access to parks and other green space near their homes. Historic preservationists struggle to defend the buildings, landmarks, and neighborhoods that define our past. Urban planning is a complex equation filled with many competing interests. This is a good time to be considering a career in urban planning. Job growth is predicted to be steady for the foreseeable future, and academic support for the career through universities and professional associations has never been better.

How to create the world's new urban future With the majority of the world's population shifting to urban centres, urban planning—the practice of land-use and transportation planning to help shape cities structurally, economically, and socially—has become an increasingly vital profession. In Urban Planning For Dummies, readers will get a practical overview of this fascinating field, including studying community demographics, determining the best uses for land, planning economic and transportation development, and implementing plans. Following an introductory course on urban planning, this book is key reading for any urban planning student or anyone involved in urban development. With new studies conclusively demonstrating the dramatic impact of urban design on public psychological and physical health, the impact of the urban planner on a community is immense. And with a wide range of positions for urban planners in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors—including law firms, utility companies, and real estate development firms—having a fundamental understanding of urban planning is key to anyone even considering entry into this field. This book provides a useful introduction and lays the groundwork for serious study. Helps readers understand the essentials of this complex profession Written by a certified practicing urban planner, with extensive practical and community-outreach experience For anyone interested in being in the vanguard of building, designing, and shaping tomorrow's sustainable city, Urban Planning For Dummies offers an informative, entirely accessible introduction on learning how.

A Guide for the Idealist is a must for young professionals seeking to put their idealism to work. Speaking to urban and regional planners and those in related fields, the book provides tools for the reader to make good choices, practice effectively, and find meaning in planning work. Built around concepts of idealism and realism, the book takes on the gap between the expectations and the constraints of practice. How to make an impact? How to decide when to compromise and when to fight for a core value? The book advises on career "launching" issues: doubt, decision-making, assessing types of work and work settings, and career planning. Then it explains principled adaptability as professional style. Subsequent chapters address early-practice issues: being right, avoiding wrong, navigating managers, organizations and teams, working with mentors, and understanding the career journey. Underpinning these dimensions is a call for planners to reflect on what they are doing as they are doing it. The advice provided is based on the experience of a planning professor who has also practiced planning throughout his career. The book includes personal anecdotes from the author and other planners about how they launched and managed their careers, and discussion/reflection questions for the reader to consider.