themadscientist
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Hello everyone out there in Cyburbia,
I seem to be falling into the same “is urban planning right for me” dilemma that all potential applicants to Masters in Urban Planning programs go through. I’ve been reading different threads on Cyurbia (along with articles on several other websites) about the career for about 6-8 months now, and I figured it’s time to actually post something. Everyone here seems to have a good sense of humor and the ability to be brutally honest when needed, so I thought you might be able to offer a few words of wisdom.
Basically, my story is that I’ve been an avid lover of cities, and transport systems in particular, since the beginning of my high school days. In my free time I always seem to find myself on the Wikipedia page of a metro system somewhere in the world, and when traveling, am always keen to learn about the city’s public transit, and what role it plays in shaping the city, etc. These interests led in part to me getting an undergrad degree in Geography. After graduation, I toyed around with the idea of working in International Development, but gravitated instead towards Urban Planning. From everything I read, it seemed to be right up my alley, matching well with my skill set and personal interests. Thinking I found the right career, I began interning at a non-profit institute in New Delhi that provides research assistance and policy recommendations regarding urban transport to the Ministry of Urban Development. The idea behind the internship was to gain some relevant experience to have a more competitive grad school application, and of course to make sure the field is right for me.
However, due in part to my experiences during the internship and in part to stuff I’ve read elsewhere (Cyurbia forums, for example), I’ve begun to realize that while the idea of urban planning still interests me, the only sort of job in this broad field that would really appeal to me would be a transport planner in a large, private sector firm. I read that two-thirds of planners are employed in the public sector, and I’m not sure of the proportion of the total that are engaged in transport planning, but can anyone give me an idea of the amount of private sector transport planning jobs that are out there? More importantly, are they even attainable for recent grads these days? And given my somewhat narrowed interests in this field, would I be crazy to spend the time and money to even go for a Master’s degree?
Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a ton!
I seem to be falling into the same “is urban planning right for me” dilemma that all potential applicants to Masters in Urban Planning programs go through. I’ve been reading different threads on Cyurbia (along with articles on several other websites) about the career for about 6-8 months now, and I figured it’s time to actually post something. Everyone here seems to have a good sense of humor and the ability to be brutally honest when needed, so I thought you might be able to offer a few words of wisdom.
Basically, my story is that I’ve been an avid lover of cities, and transport systems in particular, since the beginning of my high school days. In my free time I always seem to find myself on the Wikipedia page of a metro system somewhere in the world, and when traveling, am always keen to learn about the city’s public transit, and what role it plays in shaping the city, etc. These interests led in part to me getting an undergrad degree in Geography. After graduation, I toyed around with the idea of working in International Development, but gravitated instead towards Urban Planning. From everything I read, it seemed to be right up my alley, matching well with my skill set and personal interests. Thinking I found the right career, I began interning at a non-profit institute in New Delhi that provides research assistance and policy recommendations regarding urban transport to the Ministry of Urban Development. The idea behind the internship was to gain some relevant experience to have a more competitive grad school application, and of course to make sure the field is right for me.
However, due in part to my experiences during the internship and in part to stuff I’ve read elsewhere (Cyurbia forums, for example), I’ve begun to realize that while the idea of urban planning still interests me, the only sort of job in this broad field that would really appeal to me would be a transport planner in a large, private sector firm. I read that two-thirds of planners are employed in the public sector, and I’m not sure of the proportion of the total that are engaged in transport planning, but can anyone give me an idea of the amount of private sector transport planning jobs that are out there? More importantly, are they even attainable for recent grads these days? And given my somewhat narrowed interests in this field, would I be crazy to spend the time and money to even go for a Master’s degree?
Any input would be greatly appreciated! Thanks a ton!
