Education and careers

Planning as a career

What kind of a career would you like?

Do you want a diverse career in which no two days are the same?
Do you want to make decisions that affect how people live in a positive way?
Do you want to join a profession that balances the needs of communities, businesses and the environment?
Are you interested in shaping the way our cities, towns and villages are developed and built?

As a planner you’ll have the potential to build such a career. More information is available from our careers booklet. If it’s variety you’re looking for, then get involved in planning and you could find yourself:

helping design our towns and cities to include attractive buildings and public spaces, and promote healthy lifestyles
helping regenerate socially-deprived areas and creating new jobs
managing development and helping to create affordable housing
tackling the effects of climate change helping to protect our environment
creating policies for managing traffic and providing sustainable solutions to our transport needs
improving energy efficiency and cutting carbon emissions in our homes, factories and businesses
engaging communities to have a say in how their living space is developed and protected to improve their quality of life.

"Today there are 180,000 more people living in urban areas than there were yesterday. There will be another 180,000 there when you wake up tomorrow and another 180,000 the day after that..."

Professor Cliff Hague

You can find out more about the many different aspects of planning from the links in this page We hope you will discover a career that can be both personally and professionally rewarding, and one in which you can make a very real and lasting impact on peoples’ lives.

You will also need to study a planning qualfication. We provide a list of universities offering RTPI-accredited courses. The entry requirements for each course can be obtained from the university you are interested in.

How much variety is there in a career in planning?

Whatever type of person you are, there’s a role in planning that will suit you. If you’re analytical and like dealing with detail, you might enjoy a job in planning research. If you work well with people and want to get involved with your local community, a role in community engagement could be for you. Or if you’re into design and making things work better, maybe urban design’s the right choice. You may get involved in some of these areas, or you might decide to focus on one specialist area, like transport planning or heritage. But one thing’s for certain: there’ll be a whole range of stimulating challenges ahead of you.

Our topic pages provide information on key planning topics and issues. What are you most interested in? What would you do to improve your local area?

Planners also work in all kinds of organisations in the public, private and voluntary sectors, or as self-employed consultants. They can also become involved in major projects throughout the world, so you may even get the chance to work overseas.

Other useful sources if information include: