Town planning is one of the most vital courses nowadays. It has its own importance due to phenomenal growth in cities and towns. Towns have become cities. And cities have become overcrowded and overpopulated. This is true for much of the developing countries. Even cities in developed nations have become overpopulated. So, in this scenario, we can find the importance of town planning as even more relevant.

Institutes offering Town planning courses

Most of the towns planning courses offered in India are at the Masters level. Many institutes are offering this course as its importance becomes more and more. Some of them are:

• Malviya National institute of Technology-Rajasthan
• College of Engineering-Maharastra
• Institute of Environmental planning and Technology-Indore
• College of Engineering-Vishakhapatnam
• School of Planning and architecture-New Delhi.

Eligibility requirements for town planning courses

The eligibility requirements for Town planning courses at the Masters Level are bachelor’s degree in architecture (B.Arch) or Civil engineering with a good score. Apart from this the applicants have to clear an Entrance test like the GATE.

Career growth after Town planning courses

There is immense scope and career growth after doing this course. Town planning has lucrative career options as it is further divided into many specialties. Some of them are:

• Industrial planning
• Transport planning
• Housing planning
• Environmental planning
• Recreational planning

The town planner has to be very computer savvy, apart from having administrative and managerial capabilities. The other thing which a town planner, has to keep in mind is that of coordination. The work of a town planner needs to be carefully coordinated with a team of lawyers, architects, civil engineers, statisticians and economists.

The town planner can get opportunities to work in Housing developments boards, Planning consultants, Construction companies and environmental organizations. Municipal development boards are the next avenues in career growth.

Job description in brief

Town planners are at the very epicenter of development of towns, cities and villages.

They have to balance many issues at the same time. It could be industrial development, transportation, environment and housing needs of the society.

They have to develop and present sustainable development to all parties concerned. They may be architects, surveyors or other stake holders. Also, they have to make sure all activities are implemented as per the guidelines. They have to research and guide the stakeholders. They have to use different techniques like GIS or CAD for the implementations. They have to keep themselves updated with the legislation processes and present plans at meetings. They have to write reports and present them to the different stakeholders involved.