Town Planning is a profesion??

Question

Somebody told me that town planners (whatever that really means!) are "professionals" and that the act of town planning is a profession!?!

i was just wondering if anyone could shed light on what makes it a profession? and what "profession" in this context really means? i thought that to be a "professional" you simply had to get paid for what you did. i.e. "professional" footballers.

Answer 1

Town planners have university degrees which qualifies them as professionals in this area. The word professional is being used in exchange for "expert".

My sister is a city planner. After a 4 year basic university degree, she went to graduate school and earned a M.Pl (Master of Planning) degree.

I don't know all the details, but some of the stuff she does  includes:

Planning new building developments and land distributions. Plotting out the zones of a city. Planning bus routes. Planning water ways and sewer ways and major driving routes. Designing public places, such as parks. Monitoring and maintaining everything in the city and making such that all the parts of the city are working together cohesively as one unit. Making sure that no new buildings are because created without following the building laws.