Industry welcomes the Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Professor Claire Freeman, Programme Director for the Master of Urban and Regional Planning, says, “planning is about making great spaces together, and this new programme is brilliantly positioned close to the heart of government where key decisions for our country are made.”

Togetherness within the programme is evident, with students and experienced professionals joining the programme from geography, humanities, environmental science, architecture, healthcare, policy, and other diverse academic backgrounds.

“We find that people with diverse academic, personal, and professional backgrounds are required to create inclusive places where everyone can thrive,” Professor Freeman says.

Planning is at the forefront of recent political and environmental debates in Aotearoa New Zealand, including the water reforms and Resource Management Act replacement legalisation.

Professor Freeman highlights that graduates of the Master of Urban and Regional Planning programme will be tasked with tackling these and other environmental, development and social challenges.

“Planners are the arbitrators of the good for all. Planners, for example, balance the need for more housing and what type of housing against the loss of farmland, impacts on biodiversity, the local community, water supply, local roads etc.,” she says.

The Master of Urban and Regional Planning has a significant advantage in balancing societal and environmental issues as the planning programme works alongside design, architecture, landscape architecture and building science programmes within Te Wāhanga Waihanga-Hoahoa—Wellington Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation.

Businesses and governance organisations have welcomed the new planning programme to address the nationwide shortage of planners.

Media reports that planners have been in high demand for several years, with planners being needed to work in the areas of housing development, infrastructure planning, and natural ecosystem protection.

Professor Freeman says, “To help support our cities and regions to grow, we are welcoming experienced professionals who want a career change and students who are interested in the challenges that face our cities and natural environment”.

The Master of Urban and Regional Planning will join a select collection of planning and environment programmes in the country that are accredited by the New Zealand Planning Institute. Graduates who hold Master level planning degrees and with three years’ experience can become full members and represent the highest standard of planning practice.

Professor Claire Freeman joined the Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation from the University of Otago, where she led the planning programme for over two decades. Her new book ‘Planning for the caring city’, co-authored with Professor Etienne Nel, draws on real world examples to examine why and how care is needed in for a better form of city planning.