What are the job prospects in urban planning?

Pervin Malhotra 

Q.I am doing my master’s in geography. I’ve heard that, postgrads in geography can go into Urban Planning. What are the career prospects in this domain? — Sameer Ralhan

A.In 2000, only 40 per cent of the population in developing countries lived in cities. This is expected to increase to 56 per cent by 2030. Half of all Indians would be living in urban areas by 2050. 

Our future, therefore, hinges on the sensitivity, expertise and speed with which this urban transition is handled. 

The chief impediment is not technology or capital, but the availability of sufficient numbers of professional urban change-makers to tackle the complexities of planning Indian cities (water and waste management, transportation, housing, industry, environment, pollution etc).

We have just about 5,000 registered urban planners in India: i.e. just one planner for 75,000 persons. With about 8,000 cities and towns in India, we don’t have even one qualified town planner per town.

Urban planners are big-scale thinkers. Whether developing a local park or a whole cosmopolitan city — they juggle the realities of the here and now with the possibilities of the distant future to create, revitalize and grow vibrant communities.

Before creating a plan, urban planners assess and evaluate all available information. This involves research, surveying the area and consulting with the health, sanitation and transport departments in the government. 

Besides a fair amount of administrative and managerial skills, writing reports, addressing meetings, you’ll closely work with other professionals such as architects, lawyers, civil engineers, statisticians, sociologists and economists. 

Currently only 26 institutions offer courses in town and country planning

We now have BPlan courses as well. But once you’ve completed your MPlan degree from a reputed institution, diverse career paths will open up for you. You could work with government agencies, land and transport boards, private consulting firms, estate planners and MNCs, non-profit agencies or international organisations such as the World Bank, UNESCO, WHO, etc. 

Tourism boards, health authorities also require the services of planners.

Visual merchandising is a good choice

Q.I want to know something about visual merchandising as a career. Would it be a good idea to pursue a course in this subject? I have just done BA (H) English but want to do something practical and creative that does not involve extended study. —Tanya Gujral

A.Studies show that over 80 per cent of shoppers are impulsive buyers whose decision to shop is influenced by the display and layout of the store. 

A relatively new field of design, Visual Merchandising is all about optimally presenting the image, merchandise, philosophy and overall personality of the store to its customers. It’s the attention-getter — the lure or bait to capture the shopper's eye — stimulate their senses — broaden the perception of the product and its features. It stops the shopper — grabs his attention, while s/he studies the product, thereby initiating its purchase.

The concept of visual merchandising has fast caught on in India. In the coming years, jobs for visual merchandisers are expected to increase with the increase in the number of shopping malls, five star hotels, boutiques and retail outlets. Big companies like Shopper's Stop, Westside, Lifestyle, Ebony, Titan, Pantaloon, Wills Sports, Mango, etc., provide ample job opportunities. 

Theme-based merchandise displays are also in great demand for organising marketing led retail events like Christmas, Diwali, Valentine’s Day, etc. Retailers understand the positive impact of not only having attractive display windows but also of merchandise presentation. 

These VM lead tools don’t just invite grand customer traffic in stores, but also convert the traffic into sales. Skilled visual merchandisers are increasingly sought after nowadays.

Career path in organic chemistry

Q.I’m a student of Class XII (non-med). I have developed a keen interest in chemistry, particularly organic chemistry. Please suggest a reliable source from where I can get some authentic information about this field? — Harish Kathuria

A.Besides the plethora of information on the Internet, the American Chemical Society has a wealth of info on the career prospects. 

ACS is a congressionally chartered independent membership organization that represents professionals at all degree levels and in all fields of chemistry and sciences that involve chemistry. Here’s the relevant link: www.acs.org.

I’m sure you’ll find it very useful (particularly, their ‘Education and Outreach’ section. 

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