Be a Town Planner: Change the Way India Looks!

What is the job of a town planner like? How has it evolved?

A town planner is trained to prepare town plans, or master plans. These are statutory documents that give the broad direction for the spatial growth of a city. Most states in India have Town Planning Acts that empower the state town planning departments to prepare town plans for all the towns and cities in the state. After the town plans are prepared, these need to be implemented. Town planners also play a role there in terms of validating land use, approving land subdivisions, projects, etc. Town planners have a key role to play in terms of giving sanctions to the proposals put up by real estate developers. Town planners, in addition to preparing master plans, also have to prepare zonal plans for the city.

Today, in addition to political interference in the planning process, it is increasingly being felt that people themselves also need to be actively involved. Therefore, plans prepared today need to go through detailed exposure in terms of stakeholder consultative meetings, etc. Often, in the preparation of a master plan, thousands of comments are received and all these need to be duly examined before the plan is finalised. This is often seen as a huge challenge and not always welcome. Therefore, over the years, we have moved from a top down approach to a participative and inclusive approach to plan preparation.

What is the scope and future growth of this career in India?

There is a huge scope for town planners in India. While we have as many as 5,161 towns and cities in the country, only a few hundred have plans prepared. Most cities do not have zonal plans in place. Many states have initiated the process of town plan preparation and there is a great demand for town planners in the country today. Further, with the implementation of the 74th Constitution Amendment Act, the town planning function has now become the statutory function of urban local bodies. We have around 600 districts and 5,000 towns, the demand for town planners is humungous. The requirement is, therefore, in a few thousands. With urbanisation increasing, the requirement of town planners is only going to increase in the days to come.

What are the basic educational requirements?

Town planning education is available at both the bachelor's level and the master's level. There are just over a dozen schools of planning in the country and there is a need to start more. One has to have a maths and science background for entering at the undergraduate level. Many engineers and architects directly take to the postgraduate planning course without the undergraduate planning course.

The job avenues for town planners are mostly in the private sector today. There are a good number of consultancy companies who employ town planners. A small number do join the government or get into teaching and research. For most fresh graduates, a package of R4 lakh to R5 lakh per annum at the starting level is common.

What are the skill sets required for the job?

Town planning is an interdisciplinary profession and one needs to have a broad understanding of several subjects such as engineering, architecture, geography, public administration, economics, sociology, etc. Computer skills, particularly GIS skills are a basic prerequisite. A town planner needs to have a thorough understanding of civil society and economy. He has to be a visionary who has to create the platform for the future. He should understand the relationship between physical spatial development and socio-economic development. He should also have the capability to convert ideas and policies into physical ground realities since land is the basic resource with which the town planner has to deal. Last but not the least, good understanding of the laws of the land and working of the courts is essential.

What is upside and downside to the profession?

Town planning is a challenging job for people who can think of the big picture. It provides opportunities to amalgamate various subjects and tackle a range of subjects in a comprehensive manner. It affords team working in an interdisciplinary environment. On the down side, there is a lot of interference from the politicians and even the civil society. People use the tool of RTI and ask so many questions that in most offices today, the town planners is doing more of information churn rather than town planning! Also, for the enormous work that is put in and the huge responsibility shouldered by the town planner, the pay packets fall more than short.

Author: Vandana Ramnani (HT Horizons)

Date: 2nd December, 2010

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