[cissy]

Hi
I am going to be graduating with a History degree this summer and I am considering an MA in Town Planning, however I would like to understand a few things before I consider it seriously.
-Is it advisable considering my academic background to gain work experience before I apply to any courses? It is likely I'll be taking a year out to earn money to fund myself so I'll have the time. How could I go about doing this?
-What is the design element like? Does it involve a lot of model building and drawing? These aren't my strongest skills... I understand it is mostly policy based?
-Does anybody know much about Urban Regeneration postgrads?
I have looked into this but it is nice to get a second opinion from people with real experiences.
Ta.

[ellp]

currently working as an architectural technologist.. working in residential planning department in an Architectural Firm. I would say there is no one route into 'town planning', with various forms and job roles within the area itself. for example we work on large residential developments for national house builders and amongst others Architects, Technicians, Urban Designers and planners all effectively do the same role.

I know this probably makes it harder for you to choose which route to take, but I would advise to start talking to as many companies as you can especially local councils (i.e. planning department) outlining your intentions and searching for any possible trainee positions, and if your lucky there maybe training schemes they can offer you. At the same time try and get in contact with universities and seek advice as to what would be best for you.

With regard to course content, local / national policies planning procedure and laws will play an integral part however i do think an understanding of their design and construction is essential.. thus having to gain such skills through relevant training and course

[cissy]

(Original post by ellp)
currently working as an architectural technologist.. working in residential planning department in an Architectural Firm. I would say there is no one route into 'town planning', with various forms and job roles within the area itself. for example we work on large residential developments for national house builders and amongst others Architects, Technicians, Urban Designers and planners all effectively do the same role.

I know this probably makes it harder for you to choose which route to take, but I would advise to start talking to as many companies as you can especially local councils (i.e. planning department) outlining your intentions and searching for any possible trainee positions, and if your lucky there maybe training schemes they can offer you. At the same time try and get in contact with universities and seek advice as to what would be best for you.

With regard to course content, local / national policies planning procedure and laws will play an integral part however i do think an understanding of their design and construction is essential.. thus having to gain such skills through relevant training and course

Thanks for replying. In regards to design I fear that the course will demand me to make models and sketch. I think I'd be able to handle an understanding as you say, but I'm not architect! I'll look further into it, thanks.

[Nitebot]

(Original post by cissy)
Thanks for replying. In regards to design I fear that the course will demand me to make models and sketch. I think I'd be able to handle an understanding as you say, but I'm not architect! I'll look further into it, thanks.

Ooohh, a rare planning question so I thought I'd chip in! Don't worry about the design parts of any planning course. Planning courses have to cover such a diverse area, they don't have time to teach you much design, even in optional design modules. I was the worst technical drawer/designer (and don't even talk to me about model making!!) and I got by ok!!

It's worth getting some work experience with a local authority planning service if you can. I'd advise that to any graduate. Planners tend to come from varied backgrounds - planning degrees of course, but also geography, social sciences, general humanities and even the sciences. If you have a liking for history then the conservation officer role might be of interest to you. You don't need to be a qualified planner for that but planning knowledge is important. Jobs are very scarce though.

Even in these days of austerity and over stretched officers, I think many councils will take students on for at least a couple of weeks. In the past, we used to give students months of free work experience. Policy sections are better set up to handle students than development control sections, who deal with planning applications, as they can give students a stand-alone piece of work to get on with, such as surveys for housing, open space, retail etc which save officer time.

Planning jobs have been hard to come by and will be for many years but that doesn't mean that you can't break into the profession.

[firedoor]

I also did an undergraduate degree in history. I worked in a discipline completely unrelated to either history or planning for four years before going back to do an MSc in planning. In my experience, from my program, the vast majority of students did not have any professional planning experience. While a lot of them came from geography backgrounds, there were a few from history and some from other areas. Of course having work experience won't be of any harm, I wouldn't stress out about finding any. You'll do fine in a course without it!

As for the design element, not all planning programs offer this. University of Westminster, for example (last I checked) is much more policy focused. Others have more of a balance of elements, including urban design. My program had a design course, and it was great -- the instructors recognised that not everyone is great at drawing or comfortable with it so the points for the urban design project were given more to the ideas and effort that went in rather than being able to draw amazingly well. No modelling was required. However, i agree with ellp that having a knowledge of design elements and theory is important for people going into planning.

Anyway hope that helps!

[MattB92]

I currently study planning at undergraduate level and can assure you that the design elements of the course aren't particularly scary, I can't speak too much about the MA but from what I've seen you shouldn't worry - unless perhaps you're choosing to specialise in urban design..