Town planner

Job description

Town planning is a balancing act between constructing modern communities and conserving our natural and built heritage to create diverse, vibrant and sustainable places where people want to live, work and play. Town planners shape the way our cities, towns and villages are developed and built, and play a role in preserving biodiversity and safeguarding our architectural heritage. They help shape policies to combat global warming, contribute to the creation of self-sufficient communities and shrink our ecological footprint.

Town planners take a long-term view on economic development to ensure that future generations can benefit from the earth’s resources.

Work activities

• Designing towns and cities to include attractive buildings, vibrant public spaces and bustling shopping centres
• Working to protect the countryside, trees, hedgerows, forests, grasslands, waterways, rivers and shorelines
• Creating policies for managing traffic and providing sustainable solutions to our transport needs
• Managing development and helping to create affordable housing
• Playing a role in regenerating socially-deprived areas and creating new jobs
• Helping to bring back historic buildings into sympathetic use
• Improving energy efficiency and cutting carbon emissions in homes, factories and businesses
• Engaging communities to have a say in how their living space is developed and protected to improve their quality of life.