Urban planning and management are key municipal functions in the United States and Western Europe. In the rapidly growing developing world, urban expansion has far outstripped the capacity of city governments to cope with the bewildering array of problems this mass movement and spatial reorganization of the population generates. Huge, difficult-to-manage, multi-centered megacities continue to emerge worldwide, along with the proliferation of thousands of other smaller cities. Nevertheless, the attraction of urban life has never been greater. With more than 50 percent of the world's population living in cities at the turn of the century, the 21st century will be the world's first truly urban era.
The challenge this urbanized world poses is the substance of the planning profession. Planners are dedicated to developing innovative approaches to managing cities and planning their development. The constructive management of change is at the heart of the profession. Planners often work in local governments and communities, but their concerns are issues that affect the world – land use, social policy, historic preservation, transportation, housing, economic development, policy planning, environmental protection, urban design and international development. Planners are visionaries working for a better future through improvements in the quality of life in one or more of these areas.