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Urban and Regional Planners

$79.54K Median Salary 3.7K Job Openings (Annual Projection) 6.9% Job Growth

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About This Career

Develop comprehensive plans and programs for use of land and physical facilities of jurisdictions, such as towns, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas.

Reported Job Titles

City Planner, Community Development Planner, Community Planner, Development Technician, Housing Development Specialist, Neighborhood Planner, Planner, Planning Consultant, Planning Technician, Regional Planner

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Skills You'll Need

Click on skills to find related courses.

Abilities

Oral Comprehension

Oral Expression

Problem Sensitivity

Speech Clarity

Written Comprehension

Written Expression

Deductive Reasoning

Inductive Reasoning

Near Vision

Speech Recognition

Fluency of Ideas

Information Ordering

Category Flexibility

Originality

Visualization

Far Vision

Flexibility of Closure

Mathematical Reasoning

Number Facility

Knowledge

Law and Government

English Language

Geography

Transportation

Communications and Media

Administration and Management

Sociology and Anthropology

Customer and Personal Service

Computers and Electronics

Skills

Active Listening

Judgment and Decision Making

Speaking

Critical Thinking

Reading Comprehension

Systems Analysis

Writing

Complex Problem Solving

Systems Evaluation

Social Perceptiveness

Negotiation

Active Learning

Coordination

Service Orientation

Time Management

Operations Analysis

Persuasion

Instructing

Learning Strategies

Management of Personnel Resources

Mathematics

Monitoring

Technology Skills

Computer aided design CAD software

Presentation software

Geographic information system

Map creation software

Data base user interface and query software

Graphics or photo imaging software

Analytical or scientific software

Electronic mail software

Enterprise resource planning ERP software

Spreadsheet software

Document management software

Development environment software

Desktop publishing software

Office suite software

Compliance software

Project management software

Desktop communications software

Enterprise application integration software

Cloud-based data access and sharing software

Word processing software

Object or component oriented development software

Time accounting software

Internet browser software

Web page creation and editing software

Web platform development software

Data mining software

Tools

Microfiche or microfilm viewers

Still cameras

Scanners

Notebook computers

Digital camcorders or video cameras

Plotter printers

Special purpose telephones

Scales

Global positioning system GPS receiver

Map measurers

Desktop calculator

Two way radios

Photocopiers

Digital cameras

Slide projectors

Laser printers

Desktop computers

Overhead projectors

Personal computers

Abilities

Oral Comprehension: The ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
Oral Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
Problem Sensitivity: The ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing that there is a problem.
Speech Clarity: The ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
Written Comprehension: The ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
Written Expression: The ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
Deductive Reasoning: The ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
Inductive Reasoning: The ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
Near Vision: The ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
Speech Recognition: The ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
Fluency of Ideas: The ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
Information Ordering: The ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
Category Flexibility: The ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
Originality: The ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
Visualization: The ability to imagine how something will look after it is moved around or when its parts are moved or rearranged.
Far Vision: The ability to see details at a distance.
Flexibility of Closure: The ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
Mathematical Reasoning: The ability to choose the right mathematical methods or formulas to solve a problem.
Number Facility: The ability to add, subtract, multiply, or divide quickly and correctly.

Knowledge

Law and Government: Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
English Language: Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
Geography: Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
Transportation: Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
Communications and Media: Knowledge of media production, communication, and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and entertain via written, oral, and visual media.
Administration and Management: Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
Sociology and Anthropology: Knowledge of group behavior and dynamics, societal trends and influences, human migrations, ethnicity, cultures, and their history and origins.
Customer and Personal Service: Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Computers and Electronics: Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.

Skills

Active Listening: Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
Judgment and Decision Making: Considering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
Speaking: Talking to others to convey information effectively.
Critical Thinking: Using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions, or approaches to problems.
Reading Comprehension: Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work-related documents.
Systems Analysis: Determining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
Writing: Communicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
Complex Problem Solving: Identifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
Systems Evaluation: Identifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
Social Perceptiveness: Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
Negotiation: Bringing others together and trying to reconcile differences.
Active Learning: Understanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
Coordination: Adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
Service Orientation: Actively looking for ways to help people.
Time Management: Managing one's own time and the time of others.
Operations Analysis: Analyzing needs and product requirements to create a design.
Persuasion: Persuading others to change their minds or behavior.
Instructing: Teaching others how to do something.
Learning Strategies: Selecting and using training/instructional methods and procedures appropriate for the situation when learning or teaching new things.
Management of Personnel Resources: Motivating, developing, and directing people as they work, identifying the best people for the job.
Mathematics: Using mathematics to solve problems.
Monitoring: Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.

Technology Skills

Computer aided design CAD software: Autodesk AutoCAD; Autodesk Revit
Presentation software: Microsoft PowerPoint
Geographic information system: ESRI ArcView; Geographic information system GIS systems
Map creation software: ESRI Site Scan for ArcGIS; OpenDroneMap
Data base user interface and query software: Blackboard software; Database software; Microsoft Access; Yardi software
Graphics or photo imaging software: SmugMug Flickr
Analytical or scientific software: Statistical analysis software; TapRooT
Electronic mail software: IBM Notes; Microsoft Exchange; Microsoft Outlook
Enterprise resource planning ERP software: Oracle JD Edwards EnterpriseOne; Oracle PeopleSoft; Oracle PeopleSoft Financials; SAP software
Spreadsheet software: Microsoft Excel
Document management software: Adobe Systems Adobe Acrobat; Filing system software; Records management software; Transcription system software
Development environment software: Adobe Systems Adobe Creative Suite
Desktop publishing software: Adobe Systems Adobe InDesign; Microsoft Publisher
Office suite software: Microsoft Office software
Compliance software: ESS Compliance Suite; Mannus Compliance: EHS; Primatech AUDITWorks
Project management software: Mavenlink; Microsoft Project
Desktop communications software: Edmodo
Enterprise application integration software: Electronic Data Interchange EDI systems
Cloud-based data access and sharing software: Dropbox; Google Drive; Microsoft SharePoint
Word processing software: 3M Post-it App; Evernote; Google Docs; Microsoft Word
Object or component oriented development software: Oracle Java
Time accounting software: Timekeeping software
Internet browser software: Web browser software
Web page creation and editing software: Facebook; Google Sites; LinkedIn; Social media sites
Web platform development software: Microsoft Active Server Pages ASP
Data mining software: Google Analytics