Community and regional planning programs prepare people to work on improving and developing cities and their surroundings. Students learn the principles of planning, analysis, and architecture. They study land use planning and zoning laws. In addition, they learn to help communities solve problems of land use, transportation, and conflicts about community development.
It's five o'clock in the afternoon, and you are on the freeway. You, along with hundreds of thousands of other people, have just left work and are trying to get home. Traffic has slowed to a standstill. In the past 15 minutes you have traveled 15 feet. Who, you wonder, is responsible for the mess that you and everyone else on the freeway are stuck in?
With or without planning, cities face problems with sprawl, service delivery, public transportation, and traffic. As a planner, your aim is to prevent and solve such problems. You help build cities and communities with the needs of citizens first and foremost in mind.
Most county and city governments have departments where planners deal with growth, urban renewal, zoning, and transportation. In addition, many private firms and research organizations focus on planning projects and analysis. Most people with a degree in community and regional planning work for these types of organizations. You can be an analyst, developer, designer, or project manager for a multitude of projects. You can concentrate on economic issues, city growth management, community housing, and transportation control, to name a few issues common to planning.
Colleges and universities usually offer training within their schools of architecture or their schools of planning and public policy. Most programs are interdisciplinary, drawing on courses from different schools and majors. This includes economics, history, urban studies, sociology, architecture, and law and public policy.
Around 100 colleges and universities in the U.S. offer master's degree programs, and a few offer an accredited bachelor's degree in urban and regional planning. However, a master's degree is usually considered the minimum degree for entry-level work in the field. Students who complete the accredited bachelor's degree can enter the work force but should continue studying for a master's degree in planning, architecture, landscape architecture, or civil engineering. It takes about six years of full-time study after high school to become qualified.