International boost for RTPI's urbanisation tool

Royal Town Planning Institute (RTPI) President Janet O’Neill will use a trip to the United States to encourage colleagues from across the world to make use of a new web-based tool designed to let town planners know how well they are positioned to cope with the challenge of rapid urbanisation. 

President O’Neill will address the 100th American Planning Association (APA) National Planning Conference in Los Vegas tomorrow, explaining how global partnerships can help planners achieve real results in their home countries and outlining the benefits of utilising the new planning tool.

She will share the stage with Canadian Institute of Planners President, Blake Hudema, and APA President, Robert Hunter. The event will be attended by more than 5,000 planners from across the United States and the world.

For the first time in history, more than half of the world’s population now live in a town or city. By 2050 a further 3 billion people will have joined them.

These people will need access to shelter, essential infrastructure like clean water and sanitation, and services like schools and clinics, all of which need to be planned in a sustainable way.

In order to help planning institutions across the globe advise their governments on preparing for the influx of urban dwellers the RTPI, in association with the Commonwealth Association of Planners (CAP), has developed a ‘Diagnostic Tool to Assess Planning Capacity’ which was launched by the Global Planners Network in March.

The tool, which is available online via the RTPI’s website, helps planning organisations to assess their skills-base, organisational capacity, leadership and working methods.

It is hoped that by identifying shortfalls which exist organisations will be able to take steps to respond to the challenge of rapid urban growth within their home country.

Janet O’Neill said: “Rapid urbanisation represents a significant challenge for the global planning community.

"Providing clean water and sanitation as well as infrastructure and essential services to the rapidly growing number of urban dwellers will be a priority for planners in many countries.

"While these are issues that each country will have to come to terms with individually there are opportunities to share knowledge and experiences which can build good practice.

“The Self-Diagnostic Tool to Assess Planning Capacity gives planners the opportunity to asses their ability to cope with urbanisation and I would encourage planners to make use of this valuable resource.”

The Tool is designed for global use. It is available online and in hard copy in English, French, Spanish and Chinese. It is tailored to fit the experiences of all types of planners working in public, private or voluntary sectors, and all organisations and institutions with responsibility for planning and managing where people live.

The outcomes of this project will be presented later this year to the UN Habitat World Urban Forum 4 in Nanjing, ‘Urbanisation, Poverty and Climate Change’ and to the Global Planners Network Congress in Zhenjiang entitled ‘Spatially Harmonious Cities’.