Urban Planner
What's it like to be an Urban Planner?
Urban Planners (Kaiwhakamahere Tāone) design buildings and infrastructure projects for towns and cities with the future development and growth of the place in mind. They consider the needs of local residents and various stakeholders, from school students to environmental groups to business owners, and attempt to balance their differing needs in the immediate and mid-term future. An Urban Planner’s may involve preparing reports, collecting data and managing communications with the public as well as drawing up plans. Urban Planners typically work within an office environment but they will sometimes need to visit construction or field sites.
Tasks and duties
- Meeting with local government officials, developers and the public regarding development plans and land use.
- Gathering and analysing economic, environmental, census and market research data.
- Conducting field investigations to analyse factors affecting land use.
- Reviewing site plans submitted by developers.
- Assessing the feasibility of proposals and recommending whether they should proceed.
- Staying up to date with zoning and building codes, environmental regulations and other legal issues.
- Carrying out site surveys, inspections and impact assessments.
- Presenting plans and reports to stakeholders.
- Obtaining required permits.
How to become an Urban Planner
You’ll need a specialist degree to work as an Urban Planner in New Zealand.
Complete a bachelor’s degree in urban planning, environmental policy and planning or resource and environmental planning. These degrees generally take four years of full-time study.
Consider completing a master’s degree in one of the above subjects, or similar. These degrees typically take two years of full-time study.
