Urban Planner

An urban planner helps communities decide how land should be used and how neighborhoods grow. You study zoning, housing, transportation, parks, and the environment, then draft plans and policies that guide development. A normal week mixes mapping and data analysis with reviewing development proposals, writing reports, and presenting at public meetings. You work with elected officials, developers, architects, engineers, and residents, and you often have to explain tradeoffs to people with strong and competing opinions about their community.