So what exactly is urban planning?
Urban Planning, encompassing city, community, and regional planning, often referred to as "City, Community, and Regional Planning" or "City Planning" in English, primarily uses architectural design principles to plan and design the layout of buildings in cities, communities, or regions. Its goal is to enhance the quality of life, aesthetics, convenience, and land utilization (indirectly contributing to land conservation), as well as to address issues like traffic congestion and urban pollution through better planning.
This major involves all facilities closely related to people's daily lives, including public transportation, urban drainage systems, residential housing, shopping centers, hospitals, green spaces, and parks. It also incorporates knowledge from economics, land use, transportation, and architecture.
Main Branches of Urban Planning
Land Use Planning:
Land use planners encourage growth and development in specific communities or suitable corridors while reducing expansion in environmentally sensitive areas or zones where support services cannot be effectively provided.
The work of a land use planner is a long-term comprehensive planning effort aimed at coordinating all major activities of society: housing, recreation, transportation, water and air quality, etc. Land use planners assist in developing or managing local housing, industrial, and retail facilities in cities and counties, as well as providing ways to fund public services, while also evaluating the impacts of proposed residential or commercial developments.
Environmental Planning:
The work of an environmental planner is to enhance the physical environment and minimize any negative impacts of development. Environmental planners focus on scientific and technical issues, developing projects and policies to encourage the public to protect natural resources. Planners develop expertise in one aspect of resource management, identifying the environmental impacts of a series of government policies and proposed land-use changes.
Economic Development Planning:
In North America and internationally, economic development planners improve communities and regions by expanding and diversifying economic activities to enhance residents' living environments. The goal is to create plans that attract businesses generating new jobs and additional tax revenue. Economic development planners often work in conjunction with land use, housing, social, and community planners to address the needs of impoverished neighborhoods or the decline of commercial areas.
Transportation Planning:
Transportation planners help develop plans to meet current household and business demands for local and cross-regional transportation, and forecast future travel patterns to determine if additional transportation services and facilities are needed. They use advanced computer technology to work on the social and economic aspects of travel. They also frequently address traffic congestion and develop new financing methods. Transportation planners collaborate with environmental, land use, and economic development planners.
Housing and Community Development Planning:
Housing planners help vulnerable groups and low-income populations formulate strategies to increase the supply of affordable housing and expand homeownership. Planners often seek to create incentives, remove barriers for private residential builders, or establish housing units for low-income families or seniors working in public or non-profit organizations.
Urban Planning Curriculum
The master's program in urban planning typically takes two years to complete. The curriculum mainly consists of required foundational professional courses and branch-specific required and elective courses.
Required foundational professional courses generally include Introduction to Urban Planning, Urban Economics, Urban Development and Regulations, Urban Planning Theory, and Quantitative Planning Methods. The branch-specific courses are diverse, typically comprising a few required courses and other electives.
Urban Planning Program Rankings
According to the 2017 Top 25 Graduate Urban Planning Programs released by Planetizen, one of the authoritative planning magazines in the US (which publishes rankings of planning graduate schools along with details on tuition, admissions, scholarships, and internships for over 100 planning programs), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) tops the list. The University of California, Berkeley, and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill rank within the top three. The overall rankings are as follows:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
MIT is not only a renowned university for science and engineering but its urban planning program has consistently held the top spot in the nation. MIT offers two graduate planning degrees: the Master in City Planning and the MS in Urban Studies and Planning, both PAB-accredited.
The former is a more traditional master's program, with four research areas: city design and development; environmental policy and planning; housing, community, and economic development; and international development. No work experience is required, making it suitable for recent undergraduates. Last year's acceptance rate was around 60 out of 400.
The MS program is designed for applicants with several years of professional planning experience. As an advanced professional program, it requires contacting potential advisors in advance and is more competitive.
University of California, Berkeley (UCB)
UCB's Master of City Planning, ranked second nationally, is housed within the College of Environmental Design. Among top-10 schools that generally require a TOEFL score of 100+, UCB is relatively accessible, with a minimum TOEFL requirement of 90. However, admission remains challenging; last year's average GPA for admitted students was above 3.6, with an acceptance rate of 67 out of 367. Only one Chinese student was admitted. Note that the Urban Design concentration requires a digital portfolio.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC)
UIUC's Department of Urban and Regional Planning is one of the largest and oldest planning departments in the US, dating back to 1913. UIUC is one of the few American universities offering bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in planning. It also offers a minor in urban planning and joint master's programs with law, architecture, and landscape architecture. The admission standards are high; the planning program requires a minimum TOEFL score of 102.
Application Requirements for Urban Planning
Graduate applications for urban planning in the US have certain requirements regarding an applicant's academic background. The field tends to prefer candidates with degrees or knowledge in architecture, planning, landscape architecture, environment, etc., and urban design has even stricter background requirements.
For instance, Columbia University's Master of Urban Planning states that typical applicants have undergraduate degrees in architecture, engineering, sociology, political science, geography, economics, and urban studies. However, applicants from anthropology and other science backgrounds also apply. Candidates with strong backgrounds in sociology, economics, management, or even law are equally welcomed.
The University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, requires a five-year professional bachelor's degree in architecture or landscape architecture, or a master's degree in architecture, landscape architecture, or urban planning for its Master of Urban Design program.
In terms of soft skills, the urban design direction within urban planning places greater emphasis on the quality of the portfolio, while other branches pay more attention to relevant research outcomes, work experience, and internships.
The GPA should be at least 3.0, with top-tier schools often requiring over 3.3; for example, successful applicants to USC in 2013–2014 had an average GPA between 3.14 and 3.71. TOEFL scores generally need to be above 90, with scores above 100 necessary to be competitive for top-20 schools. GRE scores preferably above 310. For instance, the University of Pennsylvania requires a TOEFL score above 100 or an IELTS score above 7.5. Kansas State University requires a TOEFL score of 95+ or an IELTS score of 7.0 with no section below 7.0.
Application materials are standard, with some schools recommending but not requiring a portfolio.
Career Directions in Urban Planning
City and Regional Planning is a broad concept. Since planning involves many aspects, most planning master's programs require students to choose one or two focus areas. Common focus areas include:
Environmental planning
Planning history and theory
Community and economic development
Housing Policy
Land use planning/policy
Transportation policy
Regional planning
Urban design
Natural Resources Policy
Community development
Land use planning
Career Prospects for Urban Planning
Graduates mainly work in urban planning and design, urban planning management, real estate development, and other departments engaged in planning, design, and management. They participate in urban road and traffic planning, municipal engineering planning, landscape and recreation system planning, and are involved in studies on urban social and economic development planning, regional planning, urban development, real estate planning, and related policies and regulations.
In terms of employment directions, the transportation planning branch has seen the best job prospects in recent years, followed by land use. Students in transportation often take courses across engineering schools, while land use curricula include more GIS courses, both emphasizing practical skills. Graduates from these two branches generally possess strong professional skills and are more competitive in the job market. In the Chinese job market, transportation is also a hot direction, with rapid development in rail and road transportation creating numerous excellent employment opportunities.
By contrast, policy and management-oriented branches face greater employment challenges. A large part of such work involves dealing with government entities, and due to issues of status, language, and cultural background, it is difficult to secure jobs. Moreover, the laws and regulations studied are based on the American system, which differs from the domestic system.
In China, the urbanization process has not yet reached the level of developed countries, and the construction of new rural areas across various regions is only just beginning, lagging far behind some countries. As a result, the development potential for studying urban planning domestically is very promising, and entering relevant government departments can maximize the professional advantages.
