What Do Planners At AECOM Actually Do? And Why Do We Need Them?
AECOM's Olivia Franco was recently awarded the 2014 South Australian Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) Award for “Outstanding Achievement by a Young Planner.” She was recognized for her demonstrated leadership within the planning industry and skills in strategic and policy planning, development assessment and community engagement, and shares information on the importance of planners.
Despite the increased publicity and focus on urban and regional planning over the past decade, many people don’t actually know what planners “do.” “What do you do?” is a question I’ve been asked many times at family barbecues and when meeting new people, but it remains a question I struggle to answer. I’m thus taking this opportunity to share some insights into the planning profession, and what planners actually do in their various roles.
In Australia, planning broadly falls under the following categories as described below:
- Development assessment: Proposals for new development are lodged with the relevant council or state government agency, which then assesses the development application against the policies within the relevant planning scheme and either approves or refuses the proposed development.
- Strategic planning: Strategic plans are generally prepared to identify the location of new development, land types and resource planning for areas, regions or businesses at a high level.
- Policy planning: Policies and directions are established to guide development or provide frameworks for areas, places and organisations, including government agencies.
- Community and stakeholder engagement: Engaging with individuals, groups and stakeholders on planning matters to work through solutions and strategies on policies or development that affects them.
- Various land-use planning specialties: These specialties form an integral part of the planning profession by considering the environmental, social, transport, infrastructure and other impacts in the decisions that planners make.
Planners have been trained with the skills and critical-thinking abilities needed to bring together several elements when assessing developments, writing policies and creating strategies for the future development of a location, region or business. Strategic thinking is part of everyday dealings for planners as we consider how our decisions will impact upon people, places and systems in accordance with the development policy or decision.
Our decisions and policies seek to balance the environmental, economic and social needs of our communities on a daily basis. Planning is much more than the “fluffy” stuff. I would like to think of it as the “glue” that brings together the technical elements of various disciplines, and develops these into frameworks that guide the way our world is developed — not just from a built-form perspective, but also from the viewpoint of our social environments, the management of natural resources, movement systems and economic activity in our cities and regions. Really, though, planning is much more than this. Planners work in private consultancies; local, state and federal governments; and other organisations that are all collectively shaping our world. Our mix of skills and knowledge means that you will often find planners working in a range of areas — from economics to politics and education to health.
Planners are needed to make informed decisions with, and on behalf of, our communities and decision makers who contemplate the environmental, social and economic outcomes of the way our cities and regions are developed. If we are serious about mitigating the impacts of climate change, planners will be called upon more than ever to influence the development of the built form that strives towards environmental sustainability.
This is but a brief insight into the work that planners are involved with. Above all, I’d like to think we are drivers of change, guiding the future land form of streets, cities and regions. We engage with local communities to help shape the built form that we want to live, work and play in. We tie together and translate the inputs from various disciplines, and turn this into directions for our future. We are the glue.
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About AECOM
AECOM is a premier, fully integrated professional and technical services firm positioned to design, build, finance and operate infrastructure assets around the world for public- and private-sector clients. With nearly 100,000 employees — including architects, engineers, designers, planners, scientists and management and construction services professionals — serving clients in over 150 countries around the world, AECOM is ranked as the #1 engineering design firm by revenue in Engineering News-Record magazine’s annual industry rankings, and has been recognized by Fortune magazine as a World’s Most Admired Company. The company is a leader in all of the key markets that it serves, including transportation, facilities, environmental, energy, oil and gas, water, high-rise buildings and government. AECOM provides a blend of global reach, local knowledge, innovation and technical excellence in delivering customized and creative solutions that meet the needs of clients’ projects. A Fortune 500 firm, AECOM companies, including URS Corporation and Hunt Construction Group, had revenue of approximately $19 billion during the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2014. More information on AECOM and its services can be found at www.aecom.com.
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Ed Mayer
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Ed.Mayer@aecom.com
