by Hannah Hickman
Earlier in the year, an excellent colleague asked if I would present at the Bristol Planning Law and Policy Conference, which was focusing on planning for infrastructure. Without too much arm bending, I said yes – after all, I genuinely enjoy talking about infrastructure – and together we crafted the unnecessarily grand title, “National Infrastructure Planning at a Crossroads: Insights from Research and Education”.
Approaching the event, I started reflecting on my own experiences of teaching about national infrastructure. My perception was that students start planning education with very little prior knowledge of nationally significant infrastructure as an area of policy or practice, but perhaps more significantly, are generally quite sceptical about whether the subject will interest them. Positively, I also sensed that students’ interest tends to increase over time as they gain more understanding of the criticality of infrastructure in the context of key societal challenges, while also seeing intellectual interest in the subject – particularly around democracy and spatial scales of decision-making, accountability and scrutiny, and community engagement.
However, as I returned to the title, I quickly felt that instead of relying solely on my firsthand teaching experience, it would be a good deal more engaging to share some insights from students themselves about their appetite for learning about, or indeed considering, a future career in infrastructure planning.
The Survey
To that end, I surveyed our postgraduate planning students at the University of the West of England – both those studying for the MSc Urban Planning (UP) and those studying for the MSc Planning and Urban Leadership (PUL) – all of whom had at least some exposure to the subject of nationally significant infrastructure planning, depending on their year of study and course.
Whilst not a large sample at 30 students, the results are nevertheless interesting and offer some highly relevant insights for education, professional bodies, and practice.
Prior knowledge: Asked about prior knowledge of nationally significant infrastructure planning as a specific sector of planning activity, 37% of the cohort said yes, 37% said no, and 26% answered ‘vaguely’. Prior knowledge was therefore a little greater than I had anticipated, but still with the majority relatively unaware.
Career awareness: Asked about their awareness of jobs working on NSIPs, whilst 42% of students reported ‘some awareness’ – which was encouraging – 37% of students stated they had ‘no idea’. This was somewhat dispiriting given the taught content on the subject!
Career interest: Finally, students were asked about how interested they might be in a career working on NSIPs. 16% stated they were ‘extremely interested’ and 47% reported ‘some interest’, but 37% reported little or no interest.
The Reasons Behind the Numbers
It is this last question where students were probed for more insight, and the findings are quite relieving.
Those students reporting a lack of interest cited three main reasons: concern about the complexity of the tasks associated with projects of a national scale and the potentially high skill level required; a stated preference for other areas of planning (particularly residential development); and a concern that infrastructure planning is not associated with social value. These reasons are reflected in the student quotes below:
“The extended timescales and volume of technical information, documentation and assessments required is daunting, and could become rather technocratic and separated from the political and value issues of planning”
“I’m used to being on a variety of projects which are more linked to social aspects, so the thought of being on one project for a long time is less appealing. Feels more removed from daily life and the planning issues I’m more interested in”
On the other hand, for those potentially interested in careers in infrastructure planning, the corollary arguments were presented, citing the potentially rewarding nature of complexity; the opportunity to work on projects of national significance; and the potential to deliver positive environmental outcomes via infrastructure:
“I like the idea of working on larger projects that really shape the UK”
“These are key projects that would bring significant impact on the country”
“Complexity and challenge of large projects, and significance of their delivery is interesting”
Whilst these findings reveal at least some enthusiasm for the subject of infrastructure or infrastructure planning careers in the future, they are not emphatically so – a mixed picture has emerged.
Why Does This Matter, and What Might We Do About It?
Given the current policy and practice focus on accelerating the delivery of critical national infrastructure, and the demands this places on the workforce, having a ready supply of future planners interested in this area of practice is going to be important for fulfilling these ambitions. Based on these modest findings, this might prove challenging for industry.
This would suggest the need for some action to increase both the legibility of infrastructure planning and to excite students about the potential intrinsic interests in the field – perhaps addressing some of the misconceptions or indeed highlighting the social and environmental importance of infrastructure investment. To that end, I would tentatively suggest the following three conversations:
For planning professional bodies – should national infrastructure planning become a required learning outcome of accredited planning courses?
For educators – how should we better communicate the social value and intellectual challenges of infrastructure planning, while demystifying the technical complexity?
For practice – what narrative of practice is being presented to future practitioners, and what could industry do to support more future planners via experience and apprenticeships?
The Conference Response
As to how these findings went down at the conference, there was evident surprise at the reticence – perhaps unsurprisingly from those working in infrastructure planning. Their refrain mirrored some of the more positive comments from students: why wouldn’t you want to work on the most complex projects in the national interest?