Transforming Urban Education

The role of planners is increasingly becoming central to crafting resilient, inclusive, and sustainable urban spaces. This article explores the imperative shift in planning education, emphasising a multidisciplinary approach and continuous learning.

Urban planning, a complex dance of interwoven factors, seeks to enhance the quality of life for city dwellers. Housing, water, roads, power, education, health, and sanitation—these elements form the fabric of a city, and decisions made by urban planners ripple through society, shaping migration patterns and influencing real estate dynamics. In the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, imperative calls for reevaluating urban planning strategies reverberate through the discourse.

Post-COVID paradigm

The post-COVID era propels urban planners towards a growth model defined by clean, pollution-free environments, sensitive management of green-blue infrastructure, the development of a diversified city economy, equitable job opportunities, resilient and accessible infrastructure, diverse housing options, high-quality health and education facilities, low-carbon transport solutions, and the protection and enhancement of heritage assets. In the ever-evolving narrative of urban planning, cities worldwide are rewriting their stories. As planners navigate the complexities of urban development, they draw inspiration from diverse cityscapes, forging a path towards sustainable, inclusive, and resilient futures. Global examples set by historical and contemporary urban landscapes, such as Singapore’s integration of technology and innovation, Medellín’s transformation, such as public libraries and cable cars, Venice’s unique canals, and Copenhagen’s sustainable urban design, are inspiring planners to embrace unconventional approaches and prioritise green spaces and eco-friendly transportation options. The collective and dynamic interplay between innovation, sustainability, and historical consciousness in global planning practices underscores the importance of cultivating an appreciation for the historical context of urban spaces while planning for city transformation.

This echoes the spirit of change in modern cities striving for innovation and sustainable design. Cities struggle to preserve their historical character while adapting to contemporary needs and becoming global leaders in developing plans that align with their nations’ worldwide low-carbon and resilient development commitments.

Planners’ evolving role

Planners are emerging as orchestrators navigating the urban planning maze, trying to embrace change, learn from historical successes, integrate innovation, and harness wisdom from diverse sources to create transformative change. They are no longer required to confine themselves to detailed blueprints but to emerge as coordinators and urban managers, weaving diverse elements of the urban landscape together.
The process necessitates harmonising and optimising multiple institutions and meticulously examining and enhancing existing structures, procedures, and collaborations to ensure a seamless and integrated urban planning framework. This journey, however, is not without its challenges as planners navigate the delicate balance between conventional and liberal planning philosophies.

Traditionally, planning has been viewed as a periodic exercise, occurring once every couple of decades. Yet, cities’ dynamic nature demands planners continuously adopt microscopic and macroscopic perspectives, transcending conventional boundaries. Pollution, climate change, and disaster risks do not adhere to city limits, requiring planners to embrace multi-level governance to effectively manage cities’ scale and complexity.

Challenges & dilemmas

However, the planner’s dilemma lies in making informed decisions within the constraints of reliable data and predicting scenarios in different aspects of city life. Striking the right balance is crucial, directly impacting the sustainable growth of cities. Despite meticulous planning, city plans often fail to materialise, leading to unplanned urbanisation and congestion.

As cities evolve, urban planners strive to create environments that achieve a delicate balance between vibrant, resilient, and sustainable cities. Sustainable outcomes necessitate robust city-level institutions and engaged stakeholders, involving awareness creation, behaviour change, and a holistic approach to urban life. These collaborations become the lifeblood of a diversified city economy, enriching the urban fabric with sustainable practices and economic vitality.

The role of a city planner is to strike a delicate balance between integrating modern amenities and technologies. This equilibrium, straddling progress and heritage, is paramount for fostering a harmonious urban environment.

Urban dynamics

Navigating the dynamic field of urban development demands a holistic consideration of various facets, encompassing transportation, housing, green spaces, and infrastructure, ensuring that planning is comprehensive and sustainable in the long term. This multifaceted responsibility extends beyond the present, compelling city planners to envision and plan for the future, accounting for the evolving needs and aspirations of the population. Simultaneously, they must be acutely attuned to their plans’ potential impact on the community’s well-being, perpetuating a commitment to ethical decision-making.

Despite the demanding nature of their profession, city planners are held to high expectations as contributors to sustainable urban development. Their role extends beyond addressing societal challenges to enhancing the overall quality of life for current residents and conscientiously planning for the betterment of future generations. Remarkably, these professionals are expected to acquire and integrate this complex skill set within a relatively brief two-year period, starkly contrasting the longer educational timelines of engineers and doctors.

Transforming education

A transformative shift in planning education is thus imperative, calling for a multidisciplinary and extended approach akin to medical education, where a five-year training period and compulsory internships lay the foundation for expertise. The intentional and severe nature of the planning profession demands a holistic understanding of cities as dynamic entities.

Planning education must embrace a continuous learning mechanism, fostering a culture of specialisation and adaptability. New skills such as strategy planning, economic planning, policy analysis and development, incorporation of data science, AI, and robotics, and soft skills such as negotiations and community engagement, financial management, contract management, and procurement should become integral to planning curricula. Some form of service or internship in peri-urban areas or other less-capable geographies may also be introduced within planning education. This will not only provide planners with a broader perspective regarding developmental issues but also shape policy thinking. It’s time to elevate the planning profession, shedding its ad-hoc or accidental image and positioning it as a serious and deliberate career choice.

A shift in focus

Secondly, to effectively address the complex challenges of urbanisation, planners must undergo a paradigm shift in their roles. Concurrently, the education system must instill a holistic understanding of cities as dynamic entities, emphasising the imperative for integrated planning beyond conventional boundaries.

Much like the medical profession, planning education should extend beyond the confines of a single degree, encouraging planners to engage in continuous learning throughout their careers. Specialisation in specific aspects of urban planning, combined with ongoing education, ensures that planners remain at the forefront of innovative and sustainable urban development practices.

In this new era of urban planning, the emphasis should not be only on technical expertise but also on the cultivation of soft skills vital for effective decision-making and collaboration. Collaboration is going to be a key to understanding and shaping cityscapes. This must be ensured locally by collaborating with citizens, industry partners, and other stakeholders, forging collaborative relationships with multiple disciplines, and incorporating myriad tools from data science, sociology, geography, and even artificial intelligence and robotics. Negotiation skills become paramount as planners engage with diverse stakeholders, while proficiency in contract management, procurement, and monitoring ensures the successful journey from planning to project and practice.

Planning for tomorrow

The shift towards viewing planning as a serious and intentional profession requires a concerted effort from educational institutions, professional bodies, and practitioners alike. By fostering a culture of continuous learning, specialisation, and the development of essential soft skills, planning education can prepare professionals to tackle the multifaceted challenges of contemporary urban development. The education system must adapt to instill a comprehensive understanding of cities as dynamic entities, emphasising the imperative for integrated planning that transcends traditional boundaries. This evolution is not just about preparing planners for the present but empowering them to shape the sustainable and resilient cities of the future.

Planning education must also foster a critical historical perspective and instill the ability to constantly evaluate existing and past models and instruments. This will create a culture of innovation and break the tendency to keep reproducing traditional forms of practice. This aspect must be rooted in planning education itself so that we can create practitioners who can achieve new goals and expand the boundaries of the profession.

Striking the balance

The trilogy of quality of life, sustainability, and economic development demands a delicate balance, requiring precision in every decision and action. Urban planners juggle governance, financing, planning, innovations, and technologies to transform cities into drivers of positive change. In navigating the urban planning maze, planners must draw inspiration from the trilogy of Goddesses Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Durga from Indian mythology, emphasising the importance of knowledge, prosperity, and resilience.

The changing landscape of urban development demands a revaluation of the planner’s role, guiding them from detailed planners to modern urban managers capable of navigating the intricacies of microscopic and macroscopic views of urban development. The definition of urban planning needs to move away from physical design, enforced through strict land use regulations, to bottom-up models of good governance and decentralised practices, and to foster a more integrated and adaptive mindset. Planners can play a pivotal role in steering cities towards sustainable and inclusive futures.

Planners must draw inspiration from the Goddesses Saraswati, Lakshmi, and Durga from Indian mythology, emphasising the importance of knowledge, prosperity, and resilience.