Routledge Companion to Professional Awareness and Diversity in Planning Education

"Urban planning as a discipline does sometimes suffer from a public lack of understanding of its parameters and scope, unlike many other built environment disciplines. Furthermore, what the profession is in dire need of, is a diverse cadre of committed professionals that are able to contribute to more inclusive spaces in a variety of settings. This collection addresses both issues by sharing a range of planning pedagogic experiences from marginal spaces within parts of the global North and underexplored parts of the globe. Planning as a career choice is explored among school learners and undergraduate students, also. The contributing chapters are informative, incisive and a welcome addition to the growing literature on planning education."

Prof. Nancy Odendaal, Director of the School of Architecture Planning and Geomatics, University of Cape Town, South Africa

"It is hard to find an excellent book that simultaneously addresses many challenges facing planning education. This Companion does that, addressing diversity among scholars, professionals, and students; arguing for planning education to reach younger audiences; and encouraging self-reflection among planners and students. The Companion also argues for undergraduate and international planning education. The contributors include scholars at the forefront of thinking about these issues."

Prof. Rayman Mohamed, Chair and Graduate Director, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, Wayne State University, USA

"Planning practitioners and students often admit that they stumbled into the discipline by chance or happy accident. This collection aims to change that by providing strategies to help raise awareness of planning as a career choice, with a thoughtful emphasis on connecting to children and youth. The companion draws from an impressively broad range of experiences, with examples from four continents, that emphasize the importance of increasing diversity in our discipline."

Dr. Charles A. Santo, Chair and Associate Professor of City and Regional Planning, The University of Memphis, USA

"This book shows that there are no easy answers to marketing planning as a profession: making it possible and desirable for people with a wide variety of backgrounds to get an education in planning; engaging all types of people, including children and youth, in planning processes; and making planning education responsive to local contexts. All these take effort, relationship-building, self-evaluation, institutional change, and, of course, resources. There are quite a few success stories in this book, however, that can serve as roadmaps for educators looking to increase the reach and impact of their programs and the quality of education for their students."

Carolyn G. Loh, Wayne State University, USA, for the Journal of Urban Affairs