As a City and Regional Planning major a large part of my classes is looking how different people interreact with our physical spaces and what inequities are created or intensified by our surroundings. While most people think of city planning as just designing streets that wont be as congested or putting parks places, it is much more than that, especially when you consider how every aspect of a city impacts its inhabitants. I have spent a lot of time learning about all of the ways inequality manifests in our cities, from the lasting impact of redlining to transportation not being accessible to those who need it most. While you certainly can go into planning without caring about these things (and most people do), I believe that unless you are actively fighting against these things they will only get worse. As the ones making these choices it is our job to think about those who cannot speak for themselves, and be their advocates even when they don’t ask for it.
I am planning on going into disaster relief, but even in that field I think you have to be aware of how different communities experience things and how they are impacted. Just because something like a hurricane is indiscriminate to who or where it hits, doesn’t mean everyone hit is affected in the same ways. Those who don’t have their own vehicles wont be able to evacuate, those who cant afford insurance will have more expenses from the storm, and so on. How one designs a recovery plan is a very crucial step in evening the playing field, in a sense. Putting focus on the communities that really need it rather than the ones that will manage without.
This is just one example from one somewhat specific career field, but really any field of planning has the same effect. As someone who is going into planning I feel a very strong personal responsibility to make myself knowledgeable about different experiences and backgrounds, whether it be race, ethnicity, income, profession, or any other signifier. Not only do I feel the need to learn this, but also to apply it in my work and studies. Being a double major I don’t have much flexibility in what classes I take, but I do have some degree of what I make of them, what clubs I participate in, and what guest lecturers or panels I attend.