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How to Become An Urban Planner?

C

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So I'm rather torn about whether or not to pursue a Geography major. I might have to do two extra courses. But it is not an undergraduate in Urban Planning, but Geography. With that being said, I have a few questions:

1) Will a geography major be of any use in seeking an ubran planning profession?
2) Do you need a master's degree to become an ubran planner (please say no)?
3) Does urban planning generally involve a lot of numerical skills?

Thank you...
 
There's a lot of good information here: http://www.ontarioplanners.on.ca/content/Students/index.aspx
As far as I know, the only Bachelor's programs that are accredited are Ryerson's and Waterloo's. You need a Masters otherwise.
In my experience planning doesn't involve a lot of numerical skills (it's certainly not unheard of for planning Masters students to not have taken a math related course since high school), but knowing how to use numbers and look at data and determine its usefulness is very helpful. It depends a bit on what kind of planning you're doing, but numbers are always a great way of proving your point no matter the subject area.

I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to pursue a Masters in Planning, to be honest. If Planning is something you want to do as a career, getting the opportunity to study, read, talk about and become immersed in the subject with fellow enthusiastic students is a really awesome opportunity. It's like coming on the Urban Toronto website, only you get a crisp piece of paper at the end that tells everyone you're a planner (whether it leads to a job is another story...). If you really want to be a planner with only a Bachelor's keep in mind that there are roughly 100 new Planning graduate students entering the job market each year in Ontario. Do you think a bachelor's degree in planning can compete with that? That's not to say it can't but it's certainly tougher.
 
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I thought in order to become a planner you had to pass a test? I didn't know a Master's was required to be certified. I guess I won't be going places with my measly Geography degree. I would like to be a double major, and I am two courses short of a Geography degree, and I'm assessing whether it's worth obtaining it or not. I guess it's best to keep my options open.

I would just like to have an advantage over the thousands of undergraduates graduating from University at the same time as me, and I was wondering if there was a certain type of volunteering that would end up being useful in the urban planning field?
 
You have to have a degree from one of those programs AND THEN you have to pass a test. You can do urban planning without it (If I'm not mistaken you don't go for your test until you've been working in the field for at least 4 years), but you can't sign off on any plans until you are certified and most positions require that you're eligible for OPPI/CIP membership.

Keep in mind that in Toronto alone there are probably over 200 students working towards their bachelors/masters in urban planning. Finding volunteer/intern opportunities is extremely difficult for students (and it's a requirement as part of their planning degree) nevermind people who aren't in that stream already. That's not to say it would be impossible for you to call up some planning firm and ask to volunteer, but if they aren't doing it for people working towards planning degrees it seems unlikely that they would bring people in from outside that area unless you have something specific you can offer them.

If I were you and really wanted to pursue planning I'd look into Masters programs. It's your best chance.

EDIT: Actually, if you look here: http://www.ontarioplanners.on.ca/content/BecomeAMember/becomefullmember.aspx you can become a planner without a recognized degree but first you need a member to sponsor you (so essentially you need a planning position). Here are the requirements: Recognized Planning degree- 2 years experience in planning (minimum);
Degree in a related field- 4 years experience in planning (minimum); Degree not related to planning - 6 years experience in planning (minimum)

So a bachelor's in geography can lead to a planning position but it's an uphill climb.
 
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jn_12 said:
There's a lot of good information here: http://www.ontarioplanners.on.ca/content/Students/index.aspx
As far as I know, the only Bachelor's programs that are accredited are Ryerson's and Waterloo's. You need a Masters otherwise.
In my experience planning doesn't involve a lot of numerical skills (it's certainly not unheard of for planning Masters students to not have taken a math related course since high school), but knowing how to use numbers and look at data and determine its usefulness is very helpful. It depends a bit on what kind of planning you're doing, but numbers are always a great way of proving your point no matter the subject area.

I'm not sure why you wouldn't want to pursue a Masters in Planning, to be honest. If Planning is something you want to do as a career, getting the opportunity to study, read, talk about and become immersed in the subject with fellow enthusiastic students is a really awesome opportunity. It's like coming on the Urban Toronto website, only you get a crisp piece of paper at the end that tells everyone you're a planner (whether it leads to a job is another story...). If you really want to be a planner with only a Bachelor's keep in mind that there are roughly 100 new Planning graduate students entering the job market each year in Ontario. Do you think a bachelor's degree in planning can compete with that? That's not to say it can't but it's certainly tougher.
Click to expand...

Just to add to this. If you do pursue Planning as an undergraduate degree at University of Waterloo, you are required to take a stats course 3 out of your 4 years in the program. And there are many courses that deal with mathematical concepts as well, such as Geographic Information Systems.
 
jn_12 said:
You have to have a degree from one of those programs AND THEN you have to pass a test. You can do urban planning without it (If I'm not mistaken you don't go for your test until you've been working in the field for at least 4 years), but you can't sign off on any plans until you are certified and most positions require that you're eligible for OPPI/CIP membership.

Keep in mind that in Toronto alone there are probably over 200 students working towards their bachelors/masters in urban planning. Finding volunteer/intern opportunities is extremely difficult for students (and it's a requirement as part of their planning degree) nevermind people who aren't in that stream already. That's not to say it would be impossible for you to call up some planning firm and ask to volunteer, but if they aren't doing it for people working towards planning degrees it seems unlikely that they would bring people in from outside that area unless you have something specific you can offer them.

If I were you and really wanted to pursue planning I'd look into Masters programs. It's your best chance.

EDIT: Actually, if you look here: http://www.ontarioplanners.on.ca/content/BecomeAMember/becomefullmember.aspx you can become a planner without a recognized degree but first you need a member to sponsor you (so essentially you need a planning position). Here are the requirements: Recognized Planning degree- 2 years experience in planning (minimum);
Degree in a related field- 4 years experience in planning (minimum); Degree not related to planning - 6 years experience in planning (minimum)

So a bachelor's in geography can lead to a planning position but it's an uphill climb.
Click to expand...

That seems soo complicated to me. So even if a person graduates with an undergraduate or a master's degree in planning, they still require experience in order to be accredited by the Canadian Institute of Planners?

What benefit does this CIP certification have on one's career path and what happens if someone chooses to never become certified? And what work would they do that would count as experience? Certainly not volunteer work.

The problem, for me, is a Master's degree requires OVER a B average, which I have, but I am not confident I can maintain that, so I won't count on pursuing a master's.

I love urban studies in general, but I really can't think of any position other than urban planning that this interest could lead to. I know how important it is to get a job that is enjoyable, so I really am trying to brainstorm before it's too late and I wind up hating my career.
 
I seem to be struggling with kind of the same problem right now.

I completed an undergrad degree more or less related to urban planning and now considering doing the Masters of Planning. The concern I have is I've been out of school for a couple years working. The Masters degree I want to take is a 2 year full time program and I'm not sure if I can afford taking 2 years off without having a stable income and then go back into the work field in my late 20s competing with other younger planners. Would it still be very difficult to find a planning job after completing a Masters degree?

Anyone have any advice? Or my concerns just silly?
 
Look for a Masters that gets you a decent amount of work experience... connections and experience will help get you the job over younger planners.
 
I think the key to getting started in any field is to have some specific tangible skill that is in demand. There will be dozens of graduates from the various planning programs with nothing but their marks to speak for them, and marks don't really count in the real world. If you're going to get your foot in the door you need to show everyone that you can do things other people in the office can't. That could include skills like GIS, Autocad, graphic design, IT, writing, statistics, consultation and so on. If a masters degree will get you the skills you are looking for great, but someone with a bachelors and a tangible skill is probably more likely to get hired than someone with a masters and no tangible skills.
 
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