Planning is the profession that is dedicated to helping society manage change. Planners help to evaluate and seize opportunities and to understand and solve problems. Most planners work at the local level, but they are concerned with issues that affect the world - the preservation and enhancement of the quality of life in a community, the protection of the environment, the promotion of equitable economic opportunity and the management of growth and change of all kinds.

 

Within this broad context urban and regional planning is a systematic, creative approach to influence and manage the social, economic and physical change of neighborhoods, small towns, cities, suburbs, metropolitan areas, regions, and states. If you are interested in a career helping your community (or region, state, nation, or civic organization), influence change or build a better future, a planning education can prepare you for that career.

• Do you like to envision what can be, rather than what is?
• Do you like to analyze complex problems and develop workable solutions.
• Do you like to communicate with others, particularly about ideas?
• Do you want a career that involves a commitment to positive social, physical and environmental transformation?
• Do you want to spend your career working with people on ways to develop a better future?