Note to Companies: Hire Urban Planners

In a piece in The Handbuilt City, Nat M. Zorach argues that companies of all kinds could benefit from hiring urban planners. “More companies, especially public utilities and any firm dealing with infrastructure of any kind, should hire city planners on their staff. It’s a huge value-add,” Zorach writes.

“The core of my pitch is that city planners understand interrelated, complex technical and non-technical systems, in a way that the average professional does not.” As Zorach explains, “Cities, like corporations, are not islands, nor are they oases. They operate in a complex regulatory environment, much like a corporation does, dealing with municipal regulations as well as state and federal law. Similar to how corporations can raise funding through everything ranging from IPOs to crowdfunding to promotion sales, cities also source capital from different places– like use fees, taxation districts, federal grants, state grants.” Planners can bring together diverse skills and help devise solutions that more siloed professionals may not think of.

Lastly, “Planners might not always be the best communicators, but even the worst communicators in planning generally understand how to connect with the general public better than the average corporate sector player. This is valuable in building consensus, obtaining buy-in, or facilitating broad collaboration.” Experience with community outreach and public meetings can go a long way in the corporate world, which is largely disconnected from the average consumer and citizen.