The Planning Your World interactive tool is designed to introduce pupils to the principles of town planning – how decisions are made about the spaces we live, work, and socialise in. Through an engaging digital platform, pupils explore the challenges involved in planning a town, balancing the needs of different people and the environment. The resource encourages critical thinking, creativity, and teamwork, helping pupils understand how places are shaped and the role planning plays in creating sustainable communities. This document outlines a range of ideas for using the tool in the classroom, either as preparation for an RTPI ambassador workshop, or as a follow-up activity.
Exploring the tool – Hands-on Planning experience
Begin by guiding pupils through the Planning Your World website. This can be done as a whole-class demonstration using a whiteboard or projector, or in pairs using individual devices. Pupils are given the opportunity to plan their own town by placing key features such as homes, schools, parks, and transport links. The tool is intuitive and child-friendly, making it suitable for independent or guided exploration.
As pupils build their towns, they are presented with scenarios and challenges that prompt them to consider social, environmental, and economic factors. Encourage discussion around these choices – Why did you put the school there? What makes a good place to live? How do different parts of a community connect?
- Priming task - Before the planner’s visit, as you use the Planning Your World tool, write down two challenges you faced when placing buildings or roads. What questions would you ask a real town planner about how they solve these kinds of problems?
- Follow-on task - After the planner’s visit, plan your town in the tool. Make at least three decisions based on something you learned—such as how planners balance different needs—and write a short explanation of how your decision reflects a real planning challenge.
Design a town – Creative mapping task
Following their experience with the online planner, pupils can recreate their town using a large sheet of paper, poster board, or digital drawing tool. They can draw or collage their town layout, considering zoning, green space, transport, and community buildings.
Encourage pupils to label their features and explain their design choices. This activity supports spatial awareness and reinforces key planning concepts. For an added challenge, pupils might adapt their town to address a new scenario – such as a growing population, or the need to reduce pollution.
- Priming task - Before the planner’s visit, as you draw your town, think about the decisions you’re making—where to put schools, roads, and parks. Write down one part you found difficult and one question you would like to ask about how planners make similar choices in real life.
- Follow-on task - After the planner’s visit, as you draw your town, include a feature or solution you learned about—such as flood prevention, better transport, or sustainability.
Town Planning debate – Role-play discussion
Inspired by the challenges presented in the tool, pupils can take part in a role-play activity simulating a town planning consultation. In small groups, assign each pupil a stakeholder role – for example, town planner, resident, shop owner, parent, or environmental activist.
Introduce a fictional planning proposal (e.g. building a new leisure centre or bypass road), and ask each pupil to consider how it would affect their character. Pupils then present their viewpoints in a ‘planning meeting’ and debate the issue, before the class votes on the outcome.
This activity promotes empathy, persuasive speaking, and democratic decision-making.
- Priming task - Before the planner’s visit, prepare for your role in the debate by writing three points your character would care about in a planning decision. Add one question to ask the planner about how they manage competing viewpoints.
- Follow-on task - After the planner’s visit, at the end of the debate, reflect on it. Which skills—like communication or problem-solving—did you use that planners also need? Write a paragraph explaining how your experience connects to what you learned in the session.
Sustainability challenge – Green planning
Use the online tool as a springboard to focus on sustainability. Ask pupils to plan a town with the goal of reducing carbon emissions, increasing biodiversity, or promoting active travel.
They can identify eco-friendly design features such as bike paths, tree planting, community gardens, or solar panels. Afterwards, pupils could present their green town to the class, explaining how their choices support the environment.
This can be extended with a research task on real-life examples of sustainable towns and cities around the UK or the world.
- Priming task - Before the planner’s visit, design your green town with a focus on solving one problem (e.g. pollution, climate change). Write down one question you’d like to ask the planner about how towns really tackle that issue.
- Follow-on task - After the planner’s visit, review your green plan. Add or change one feature based on an idea or real-life example the planner mentioned. Write a caption or note explaining how this change supports a more sustainable town.
Local area investigation – Planning in practice
To connect digital learning with real-world environments, pupils can explore the planning history of their own local area. Working in groups or independently, they research how the town or neighbourhood has changed over time – for example, new housing developments, changes in public transport, or the creation of parks and schools.
Pupils might use local maps, talk to family members, search online archives, or take photographs of their surroundings. Findings can be presented as posters, reports, or digital slideshows. This supports geography and enquiry-based learning, helping pupils see planning as something that affects them and their community.
- Priming task - Before the planner’s visit, explore your local area or do research to find two changes (e.g. new buildings, roads, or parks). Write a question for the planner about what challenges may have come up when planning those changes.
- Follow-on task - After the planner’s visit, choose one skill they discussed (such as problem-solving, teamwork, or community engagement). Explain how that skill may have been used in one of the changes you discovered in your local area.
Future town – Imaginative writing
Pupils are invited to imagine what their town might look like in 100 years’ time. What buildings or transport might exist? How will people live, work, and relax?
They could write a story, a news article, or a day-in-the-life diary entry from a future resident or planner. This task supports creative writing and encourages pupils to apply their planning knowledge in a fun, forward-thinking way, while considering the long-term impact of today’s decisions.
- Priming task - Before the planner’s visit, write a short story or diary entry imagining a town 100 years from now. Think about the challenges you’d need to plan for, and include one question you would like to ask a real planner about making your ideas possible.
- Follow-on task - After the planner’s visit, revise your writing to include a realistic skill or planning challenge the planner talked about. Highlight what you added or changed, and explain how it connects to what planners actually do.