Planners around the world in more than 30 countries on four continents are preparing to
celebrate World Town Planning Day tomorrow November 8.

Planning professionals in towns and cities around Australia will join thousands of
international colleagues in recognising the day that sets urban planning in a global context.
A number of State Divisions of the Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) have organised local
events and will take the opportunity to promote the value of good planning.

PIA CEO Kirsty Kelly said World Town Planning Day has been an annual event for more
than 60 years and has served to advance public and professional interest in planning.
“Wherever and however it is celebrated, this is a day we set aside to think about the future
of our towns and cities and how we need to address the increasing challenges posed by
rapid urbanisation,” Ms Kelly said.

“We now live in a world of 7 billion people and if ever there was a time to focus on how we
are planning our cities and communities, it’s now.

“In many ways the planet is already overstretched and overcrowded. Modern planning has
to look at ways to make growing populations and cities work in a sustainable manner.

“Many people only give planning some thought after a major natural event, but on World
Town Planning Day we can all think about how planning can lessen the human impact of
disastrous events like we have seen this year.”

World Town Planning Day will be recognised at conferences, seminars and public events
around the globe. PIA shares the celebration with other planning industry bodies such as the
South African Council for Planners, the Royal Town Planning Institute, the Canadian
Institute of Planners, the International Federation for Housing and Planning, and the
American Planning Association.

In Australia PIA Awards for Planning Excellence are held in capital cities as close as
possible to the day with the New South Wales Award ceremony on tonight and the
Queensland ceremony on Friday night.

The international organisation for World Town Planning Day, also know as World Urbanism
Day, was founded in 1949 by a graduate at the Institut d’urbanisme in Paris, the late
Professor Carlos Maria della Paolera.

The idea was to promote good planning and highlight the role it plays in creating liveable
communities and to draw attention to the social, environmental and economic impact from
the development of our cities and territories.

If ever there was a day to give planning some thought there can be no better day than World
Town Planning Day 2011.

The United Nations estimates the world reached a total population of 1 billion in 1804. Some
123 years later in 1927, it was at 2 billion. Just 33 years later in 1960 it was 3 billion. It hit 4
billion 14 years later in 1974. By 1987 it had reached 5 billion. Then 6 billion in 1999. And
now 7 billion.

It took millennia to get to the first billion, and now we’re gaining a billion every 10-15 years.
If we fail to plan – we plan to fail.
Planning Institute Australia