Careers in Town Planning
Town and regional planning (Town Planning for short) involves making long and short-term decisions for management and development of cities, towns and regions. A Town Plan aims to find the balance between competing demands for land for housing, industry, commerce & business, recreation, transport; to create a healthy environment for human habitat and direct the city growth
Town planning is a broad area of work, requiring many different skills. Being a multi-disciplinary field, a town planner must have team spirit, leadership and coordination, administrative and managerial skills, writing reports, addressing meetings, and work closely with other professionals like architects, civil Engineers, lawyers, sociologists and economists. Knowledge of computers is essential as computer-aided design systems help.
The rapid expansion of cities and towns in India has created a need for more Town Planners to properly direct the growth of towns & cities. Opportunities exist in government and private sector. After B.Tech./M.Tech. in Town Planning, one can join government organizations or private planning consultants. Planners are required mainly by local authorities, metropolitan planning organizations, Industrial development authorities, housing boards, tourism corporations, Town & Country Planning Departments of State Governments. Large industrial and business houses need them to plan their campuses. There are openings in construction companies and environmental organizations. Increasing number of colleges require teachers in town planning. One can go into consulting after sufficient experience.
Town Planning is offered as a 4 year undergraduate (B.Tech) at a few institutes but mostly as a post graduate (M.Tech.) course (after a bachelor degree in Architecture, civil engineering, Geography, Sociology etc.). The Town Planning course covers architecture, civil engineering, geography, economics and sociology, transportation, and planning of housing, infrastructure, industrial and commercial uses. Post graduation in town planning is offered in specialized fields like environmental planning, housing, urban design and transportation planning.
The CBSE (Central Board of Secondary Education) conducts entrance examination (All India Engineering Entrance Examination- AIEEE) for entry to undergraduate programmes in B. Planning offered at SPA in Delhi, Guru Ramdas College Amritsar, School of planning Chennai. Colleges in many states offer post graduation in Planning and conduct admission tests. The Institute of Town Planners, India, helps regulate planning education in India and offers distance education to eligible employed candidates. A list of accredited institutes offering undergraduate and post graduate courses in town planning in India can be had from its office at 4-A Ring Road I.P. Estate New Delhi 110 002.
Prakash M Apte