URBAN planning – also known as regional planning, town planning, city planning, or rural planning – is both a technical and sometimes political process that looks at the development and design of land use and the built environment. This includes air, water and the infrastructure leading into and out of urban areas, such as transportation and communications networks.
Modern town planning is no easy feat given the large number of stakeholders involved in city planning, design, development and management. Indeed, urban planning is an interdisciplinary field as one has to rope in experts in civil engineering, architecture, geography, social science and the design sciences – and not forgetting politicians.
Traditionally, urban planning has followed a top-down approach, with those at the top conducting master planning for the physical layout of human settlements.
As such, it can be difficult for the layman to fully grasp the work of planners, as urban planning is a broad category that includes different sub-fields such as land-use planning, zoning, economic development, environmental planning, and transportation planning.
Malaysian Institute of Planners president Datin Noraida Saludin thinks that her profession is generally not well understood by most laymen, and this has contributed to much misunderstanding about the profession and planning.
“I don’t think a lot of people know what town planning is, and that’s a struggle that we have had. In fact, some people don’t even know that there is a profession called town planning,” said Noraida, who is also senior associate at AJM-Planning and Urban Design Group, as well as a board member of the Malaysian Board of Town Planners.
She said in her interactions with undergraduates, many have told her that they have no regrets choosing the course because they find that town planning, being a broad subject, actually allows one to find what one reallys want to do.
“Most students say that when they go into the course, they fall in love with it because it gives them so many opportunities to do so many things, to learn so many things, because town planning is both an art and science.
“And you are basically dealing with people – what you do in town planning affects people.
“In a way, town planning teaches you to be more compassionate, you become in touch with humanity. Because as town planners, when you plan a town or you create something like a new town, for example, you are preparing it for people to live in.
“So I do find, and a lot of people find, that it is a profession that directly affects people, and in a way, it’s quite scary.
“But in another way, it’s kind of nice to know that your work, if you do it well, will create a positive impact for people.
“It can be in the small things, like providing a pedestrian network, or cycling facilities, universal access, or adequate open spaces, all the way to the larger picture such as policymaking,” said Noraida, who added that her fellow professionals must work harder to tell their stories to that their work can be understood and acknowledged.
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