Urgent need for URBAN PLANNERS

A heavy and onerous responsibility of drawing up detailed blueprints for the construction of new towns and cities has devolved upon professionally qualified urban planners

With India's urban population slated to increase from 377 million currently to 600 million by 2030, and the number of urban households predicted to rise from 22 million to 91 million in 20 years, urban planning has emerged as a vitally important vocation. Professional urban planners have the onerous responsibility of drawing up detailed blueprints for construction of new cities and towns and devise optimal land use strategies to accommodate the influx of rural migrants into India's already crowded towns and cities.

The minimum academic qualification required for acceptability into this esoteric profession (only 5 percent of the country's top 21,000 civic management professionals are formally trained) is a Master's degree in urban or regional planning from an institute accredited by the Planning Accreditation Board, Delhi. For admission into a Masters programme of an accredited institution, a bachelor's degree in architecture/urban design/economics/or environmental design is the usual requirement. Formal study programmes in urban planning are normatively offered by architecture, design, geography and/or public policy schools.

Study programmes. The School of Planning and Architecture, Delhi (estb. 1959) is widely acknowledged as the country's premier institute for town/ urban planning studies, offering undergrad, postgrad and doctoral programmes. Another well-reputed institute is the Centre for Environmental Planning & Technology, Ahmedabad