14 August 2009

The Independent - Town & Country Planning

What do you come out with? BSc, BA, MSc or an MPlan for chartered status

Why do it? To understand about people and space. Many students choose planning because they have an interest in urban issues, or are geographers looking for a more applied subject. Planning deals with extremely important issues in day to day life and students get the feeling that they can make a difference, both globally and locally.

What's it about? How land is used and managed in cities, towns and countryside. It's not just tower blocks and motorway junctions, but communities and pedestrians. There's always a problem, such as congestion, or deciding the best locations for shops, industry or leisure by balancing competing interests. Planning extends to transport systems, marine developments, and specific environmental and architectural considerations.

The Sheffield course offers a broad interdisciplinary mix of subjects. The first year includes the making of urban places and understanding urban form. Students also undertake a planning project which introduces them to elementary urban design. The second year takes a more theoretical approach, looking at urban politics and relationships between the state and the market. There is also a field-trip to Lille in France and students learn how to use Geographical Information Systems (GIS) technology to analyse data. The third year includes an independent study (i.e. a dissertation) and there are advanced modules in planning law and ethics. Those on the four-year MPlan course spend their final year working on professional modules to earn their chartered town planner status. Students get real-life experience and are able to specialise in issues such as international planning.

The Ulster choice is heavily prescribed, with no choices until the final year. The first year tackles the basics principles of economics and law. The second year builds on this with the theory and practice of planning, professional ethics and understanding real estate markets. The third year teaches you research strategies, such as analysing census data, and then there is the option of taking a year in industry. The final year includes a practical research project and there is a large focus on public-private partnerships.

The course at the University of West England, Bristol (UWE) has a fully prescribed first year with no options. Students look at environmental issues such as climate change, and social issues such as housing and transport. They also lean about the history and tradition of planning through the ages. The second year is much more practical, as students develop their planning skills through a design project. Third year involves more individual, theoretical work through a dissertation. In the final year student can specialise in urban design, transport or spatial planning, and there is a module on the business side of things. For the last two months, they do an industry placement which can lead straight into a graduate job.

How long is a degree? Three years; four years for an MPlan, or an MSc or with a year in industry

What are the students like? They tend to be imaginative and hard-working, and are interested in creating sustainable environments. It’s fairly evenly split between men and women at most places. Sheffield students are driven by a concern for social justice and want to make society a better place. Ulster students have a good understanding of sustainability and climate change. UWE students have to be passionate about environmental issues and they are creative thinkers.

How is it packaged? At Sheffield it’s about 65:35 coursework to exams, with the fourth year being 100 per cent coursework. The Ulster course is also 65:35 coursework to exams, but they are trying to drive the coursework levels even higher. The UWE course is around 60:40 coursework to exams.

How cool is it? It’s not very cool at the moment, but it’s becoming increasingly important.

What A-levels do you need? Geography is useful, but not necessary, unless you are doing a joint honours degree. Most places don’t ask for anything specific, but geography, politics, sociology and economics are all useful.

What grades? BBB at Sheffield, Cardiff, UCL and Ulster, BCC at UWE

Will you be interviewed? Most students are interviewed at UWE, but elsewhere you probably won’t be, unless you are a mature student or from a non-standard background.

Will it keep you off the dole? Town planning has always been a strong employer in this country it seems to be coping with the economic downturn quite well. 50 per cent of Sheffield graduates work in the public sector for local authorities, while others go into the private sector as planning consultants or work for central government authorities and agencies. There will soon be plenty of job opportunities in Northern Ireland with the devolution of regional planning powers – 13 new councils are due to be set up in the area, so Ulster graduates will be well placed to take advantage of this. Most UWE graduates go into the private sector, with some working for Sainsbury’s as planners. Others work for the National Trust, English Heritage, the NHS or the MoD as planning consultants.

What do the students say? Dawn Adams, 22, Urban Studies and Planning, Sheffield: “I got into planning because I wanted to do something related to geography and I knew a lot of geography graduates who hadn’t got jobs. I started off doing the joint honours geography course, but I found planning much more interesting because it was more tangible; you could see the effects in practice. I absolutely loved the course at Sheffield; it’s quite a small, sociable department so you feel like you know everyone and you’re all in the same boat. I’m currently doing some unpaid work for Birmingham City Council; I had a job lined up for January but it fell through. For the past three years it has been quite easy getting work experience and work placements, but now we’re all struggling. The last graduate job I applied for had 75 applicants per place. Ideally I’d like to end up working for Design for London (a planning Quango), but I’m going to have to be patient.”

Where's the best for teaching? Sheffield Hallam came top of the 2009 National Student Survey for student satisfaction with 4.24, closely followed by Loughborough on 4.14.

Where's the best for research? Cambridge topped the 2009 Research Assessment Exercise with 3.05, followed by Sheffield and Loughborough which both scored 2.95.

Where's the cutting edge? Sheffield students can spend an Erasmus year at the university of Illinois learning about the American planning system, or one semester in Europe. Ulster has good industry links and many of their visiting lecturers are also managing directors of property development companies. Ulster also does a lot of work with planning authorities in Ireland and they are hoping to bridge the gap between the North and the South. They also work with the international planning centre in Boston. At UWE, the idea of interdisciplinary learning is drummed into you at every level. Students work regularly with architecture and engineering students, and this gives the course that ‘real world’ feel.

Who are the stars? At Sheffield, Professor Heather Campbell works in values and ethics in planning and edits an international research journal for planning, while Professor Tony Crook works on housing policy and is Chair of Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity. At Ulster Professor Greg Lloyd works with planning processes and systems, Professor Ali Parsa works on international planning and emerging economies, and Professor Jim Berry is an expert on urban regeneration. At UWE, Professor Katie Williams is an expert on sustainable development in planning and Professor Clara Greed works in urban design.

Related Courses: Sheffield has a four-year MPlan in Urban Studies and Planning, or a three-year BA in Urban Studies. Students can also do a joint honours BA in Geography and Planning, which also lasts three years. The course at Ulster is a four year integrated Planning and Property Development MSc, and they are hoping to get dual accreditation soon from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI). UWE Bristol offers a three-year BA in Town and Country Planning, which can then be topped up to a four-year MPlan in Spatial Planning, giving students RTPI accredited chartered status. There is also a joint honours MPlan in Geography and Planning. Cardiff offers both City and Regional Planning and Geography and Planning up to BSc level, which takes four years and has RTPI and RICS accreditation. UCL offers two three-year BSc courses: Urban Studies, and Urban Planning, Design and Management.


By Chris Jefferies
The Independent