Synopses & Reviews
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.
Michael Bayer, AICP, is a planner with Environ-mental Resources Management in Annapolis, Maryland. Before becoming an urban planner, he was a newspaper reporter whose articles have appeared in the Chicago Tribune, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Journal Gazette, the Post-Bulletin, as well as Planning magazine.
Synopsis
The essential guide to starting a career in urban planning
If you're considering a career in urban planning or urban design, start with this highly visual guide to preparing for and succeeding in the profession. Through fascinating in-depth interviews with fifty of today's top planners, Becoming An Urban Planner gives you an inside view of what it takes to be an urban planner, including an overview of the profession, educational requirements, design specialties from which to choose, the job search, registration requirements, and the many directions in which a career in the field can go. Richly illustrated with photographs, drawings and sketches. Career profiles featuring a wide array of specialties and job types, traditional and non-traditional, public and private sector Fifty of today's top urban planning professionals explain their own career choices, talk about what they do, and offer advice for aspiring planners
Answering the question, What does an urban planner do?, Becoming an Urban Planner is a must have career guide for everyone considering or beginning a career in urban planning.
Synopsis
Becoming an Urban Planner answers these key questions:
What do urban planners do?
What are the educational requirements?
How do I enter the field?
How do I choose between the different types of planning, from land use planning to policy planning?
What is the future of the urban planning profession?
Here is a completely up-to-date guide to today's careers in urban planninga clear and concise survey of the urban planning field and advice for navigating a successful career. Filled with interviews and guidance from leading urban planners, it covers everything from educational requirements to planning specialties and the many directions in which a career in urban planning can go.
About the Author
Michael Bayer, AICP, is a planner with Environmental Resources Management in Annapolis, Maryland. Before becoming an urban planner, he was a newspaper reporter whose articles have appeared in the
Chicago Tribune, the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the
Journal Gazette, the
Post-Bulletin, as well as
Planning magazine.
Nancy Frank, PhD, AICP, is an associate professor and the chair of the department of urban planning at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee School of Architecture and Urban Planning. Frank has been instrumental in the development of the School for Urban Planning and Architecture (SUPAR), a charter Milwaukee public high school that opened in fall 2007.
Jason Valerius, AICP, is a planner and urban designer for MSA Professional Services, in Madison, Wisconsin. Valerius served for four years as assistant editor of the Wisconsin Chapter of the American Planning Association quarterly newsletter (WAPANews).
Table of Contents
About the Authors.
Preface.
Acknowledgments.
1. Becoming an Urban Planner: What Planners Do.
Employment in Planning.
A Young Profession: Planning Emerges in the Late Nineteenth Century.
Urban Planning Is about the Future.
Urban Planning Is about Place.
Urban Planning Is about Helping Other People Make Decisions.
The Planning Process.
Buyer Beware: Things You Might Not Like About a Career in Planning.
What Kind of Salary Can a Planner Expect to Make?
Skills for Becoming an Urban Planner.
2. Becoming an Urban Planner: Education.
What Research Shows About Planners’ Education.
Preparing for a Professional Education.
Communicating in Words.
Communicating through Pictures.
Being Comfortable with Numbers.
Drawing, Planning, and Urban Design.
Picking a College Major.
And on to Graduate School.
Choosing the Right Graduate Program.
Applying to Graduate School.
Financing a Planning Education.
Planning Curriculum: Knowledge, Skills, and Values.
Specializations.
Dual-Degree Options.
Alternative Paths.
Conclusion.
3. Becoming an Urban Planner: Experience.
Informational Interviews.
Job Shadowing.
Volunteer Experience.
Internships.
Cooperative Education.
Peace Corps and AmeriCorps VISTA.
Networking to Break the Ice.
4. Planners’ Many Paths.
Many Paths into a Planning Career.
Who Influenced You?
Where Do You Want to Work?
Planning Timeframes.
At What Geographic Scale Do You Want to Work?
What Planning Topics Interest You?
Urban Design.
Housing Planning and Policy.
Economic Development Planning.
Historic Preservation Planning.
Community Engagement and Empowerment.
Environmental and Natural Resources Planning.
Geographic Information Systems.
Land Use Planning, Law, and Code Enforcement.
Transportation Planning.
Planning for Sustainability.
Emerging Specializations in the Era of Sustainability.
Teaching Others to Become Planners.
Challenges and Rewards.
5. What Is the Future of Planning?
Economic Recession and Planning.
Geospatial Technology and Planning.
Rediscovering Public Health.
Carbon, Climate Change, Peak Oil, and Planning for Sustainable Energy.
A Bright Future for Planning.
Resources.
References.
Index.