Will AI replace Urban and Regional Planners?
AI reaches most of this job’s work.
58/100
Very high exposure
More exposed to AI than 90% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 4% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 88% of the work
What the job involves
Develop comprehensive plans and programs for use of land and physical facilities of jurisdictions, such as towns, cities, counties, and metropolitan areas.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Already happening(1)
- Research, compile, analyze and organize information from maps, reports, investigations, and books for use in reports and special projects.
Within reach(22)
- Design, promote, or administer government plans or policies affecting land use, zoning, public utilities, community facilities, housing, or transportation.
- Advise planning officials on project feasibility, cost-effectiveness, regulatory conformance, or possible alternatives.
- Create, prepare, or requisition graphic or narrative reports on land use data, including land area maps overlaid with geographic variables, such as population density.
- Mediate community disputes or assist in developing alternative plans or recommendations for programs or projects.
- Recommend approval, denial, or conditional approval of proposals.
and 17 more
Out of reach(2)
- Hold public meetings with government officials, social scientists, lawyers, developers, the public, or special interest groups to formulate, develop, or address issues regarding land use or community plans.
- Determine the effects of regulatory limitations on land use projects.
Also called
City Planner · Planner · Community Development Planner · Community Planner · Regional Planner · Urban Planner · Development Technician · Housing Development Specialist
Related jobs
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics