Town planners in the country have been urged to explore and adapt to technological trends in order to ensure the growth of their profession. Stakeholders in the profession gave the charge at the Annual General Meeting of the Lagos Chapter of the NITP. The Lagos State Commissioner of Physical Planning and Urban Development, Mr. Toyin Ayinde, said times were changing and town planners must adapt to new trends. “Professionalism and technology must be combined to give us better output. It is the amount of hard work that you put in that determines how you are rewarded,” he stated. An official of the Office of the Surveyor-General of Lagos State, Mr. Remi Olatundosun, said emerging trends were a departure from the old methods but still relevant to practise. “Things are changing and we must change with the time. The old culture is still relevant and we must not throw it away because of computerised methods of doing things, but we must be time-conscious,” he said. The Chairman, Lagos chapter, NITP, Mr. Ayo Adediran, said the state of urban and regional planning in the country was still below expectation. He said, “It is important to mention that it is not yet Uhuru; as more people are moving to the cities, the onus is on the urban planners to be equipped in order to address the challenges arising from the perennial urbanisation process. “Whoever is not computer literate is an illiterate. We need to acquire skills and develop more planning tools to embark on aggressive stakeholders’ engagement if we are to remain relevant in the emerging global city management process.” Adediran said there was an urgent need to implement reforms initiated by the Lagos State Government, with particular reference to the preparation of regulations aimed at driving urban planning and development in the state. Members of the institute also harped on the need for collaboration with other professional bodies in the built environment in order to improve activities in the sector. According to Ayinde, the common challenge has been collaboration with other sister bodies. “If we centre on individualism, we will be destroyed individually; and if we are building and the buildings are coming down, it is a deficiency in professionalism. Our common challenge is collaboration through which we will move our environment forward,” he said. Olatunbosun said town planners must work in unison with other professionals in the sector. The guest lecturer, Mr. Seyi Olanrewaju, who spoke on the use of social media tools in urban and regional planning, urged town planners to explore the new media. “For us to be ahead in our profession, we must not shun the social media,” he added. Copyright PUNCH. All rights reserved. This material, and other digital content on this website, may not be reproduced, published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or in part without prior express written permission from PUNCH. Contact: editor@punchng posted on September 22, 2014 at 12:00AM Send an email to Joseph T. Obagbemisoye 08140584469 or 08086797418 Like JTNNG on facebook facebook/jtnng91 View Joseph T. Obagbemisoyes profile on facebook facebook/jtob91 Follow @jtob91 and get followed also jtnng.blogspot/
Posted on: Sun, 21 Sep 2014 23:36:43 +0000
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