24. Knowledge and Skills for Planning Profession in the High Growth Period of Urban Transformation in India

There are several knowledge communities and professional organizations responding to the emerging urban sector opportunities in their own ways. Irrespective of their affiliations and objectives, all these generate new knowledge. The call for specific skills to address the urban complexities in an effective manner has grown louder in recent times. These multiplicities offer a rich opportunity to review the entire landscape of urban planning skill and its potential future directions. According to Heurkens et al. (2015:630), ‘helping planners operate more effectively in markets, requires the analysis and classification of how different types of planning instruments impact on the decision-making environments of development actors’. The authors attempt to review the gaps in the current system and what could be achieved by the urban planning profession by making it growth oriented. This paper tries to assess the various planning knowledge and skills required in the process of current urban transformation in India. It also assesses the job market conditions that will be required to support the new trajectory of urban planning. It relies on the secondary sources of data in identifying the current and future demand of urban planners in India. This paper draws upon the available evidences regarding new competencies for the leading employers from the various sectors. Data shows that the planners are more often in subordinate positions rather than in active decision-making roles. These have resulted in several barriers for shaping the right market conditions for urban planners in the country.