Urban Planning & Urban Planners Urban planning, or also referred to as urban development, consists of the formal planning process in which urban area designed to meet both the present and future challenges that are present in city life. They consider the relationship between the built environment and human behaviors or quality of life (Handy, Boarnet, Ewing, & Killingsworth, 2002). An urban planner, sometimes called a city planner, can assist community leaders in analyzing trends in order to decide how to best use public resources to meet various objectives. Some of the issues that are commonly addressed by an urban planner might include city growth planning, urban decay, environmental issues, social issues such as poverty and crime, and many more. By studying these issues, researchers attempt to understand the factors that make cities both livable and enjoyable. This research is also used to implement plans and policies by which positive urban development will be fostered.

Role of the Urban Planner

Urban planners devote a considerable amount of time focused on the future. Although the must study the present as a basis for a plan, most of their attention is focused on future development. In this sense, an urban planner can be as much an artist as a scientist since a great deal of

The job requires a fusion of design skills, creativity as well as technical knowledge. The role of an urban planner is also multi-disciplinary and borrows from many different fields of research including architecture, sociology, psychology, engineering, and many more.
To create an effective urban plan, generally an urban planner will scan the environment looking for opportunities for improvement. They can look at different project ideas that they come up with and then prioritize them based on their contributions to the community. Urban planners take an organized approach to problem solving the challenges that are present in an urban environment as well as the challenges that lie ahead as metropolitan areas expand rapidly. To meet their objectives they often act as a bridge between groups of citizens, various community groups, and public officials to determine potential strategies.

Urban Sprawl

To examine one of the challenges that an urban planner might face in their role, a phenomenon that is commonly referred to as urban sprawl will be provided. Urban sprawl refers to a complex pattern of land use, transportation, and social and economic development. The broad phenomenon of sprawl…