Public debate: Professional association of planners – a right or an obligation?

Aims: The debate launched today aims to offer, with your help, information to the Romanian urban planners on the various associative forms and missions of organisations in this professional area. You will find examples from several countries, but any additional information is welcome. You can find in the following paragraphs a brief description of the existing Romanian associative context for the planning profession.

Setting the scene

The Romanian Planning Register - RUR (www.rur.ro) - was established in 2004 by Law, as a public authority, subordinated to the Ministry of Transportation, Construction and Tourism. Its decisions affect planners as physical persons, regulating their right to practise their profession.

The right for planning practice is conditioned by several types of fees paid to the Register. To become certified, the planner should be registered, and examined by a commission. The planner receives then the right to practise, using a stamp handed by the Register. For elaborating any study or plan, zonal, city wide, regional, national, jobs that they acquire from the market by themselves, the registered planners pay a fixed amount to the Register. The amount is established by RUR according to the size of the planned area, or the rank of the city.

In Romania, urban and regional plans (development and land use plan) are contracted out by local or central public administration to private specialised firms, through public auction.

Debate

This debate targets 5 questions. We would like to invite you to give your opinion, based on your own experience, in your country, answering all or some of the following questions:

1. Considering that the association of the planners is beneficial for the profession, do you think that it is a central government organisation that should decide on the right to practise in the field of planning?
2. Do you think that the right to practise for professionals that have academic credentials in the field, such as BA, MA, PhD and show a solid experience, should be limited to the members of the Planning Register?
3. Do you think that the right to practise in the field of planning can be granted exclusively for a category of plans or studies (for example: being a planner only for zonal plans, or for general plans, etc)?
4. What is your opinion on introducing compulsory professional insurance for planners commissioned by public or private clients to perform urban planning activities?
5. How may be defined the professional planning experience, and the conflict of interest in this professional area?

The result of this debate will be published on the IHS Romania website by the end of May 2006. For any other questions please do not hesitate to send messages to our e-mail address: office@ihs-romania.ro.

Thank you!

• Examples from various countries