The goal of urban planning is to improve the quality of life and the environment in the places we live and rely upon. Planners are concerned with the future, but understand the past and present when working with the community to identify challenges, and their solutions. They use various methods, from community engagement to field work, data analysis, mapping, and policy analysis to understand and advocate for equitable and environmentally healthy social and physical environments.

The work of urban planners is undergirded by a commitment to work with community members to advocate for social, economic, political, and environmental justice, and the provision of public goods, such as parks, transit, and affordable housing, as well as private goods and services, including grocery stores, job opportunities, and recreation. By integrating the lived experiences of marginalized and historically ignored voices, the planning process seeks to repair past injustices and implement equitable visions for inclusive communities.

The field is anchored by five foundational practices that are emphasized or combined in innovative and unique ways across urban planning programs in the U.S. and Canada.

1. Land Use. Urban planners guide the creation of land use plans that strive to protect, remediate, and manage the natural environment through rich data, information, and  analysis that informs government ordinances, laws, programs, plans, and policies.
   
   
2. Sustainable Economic Development. Second, urban planning decisions and outcomes support sustainable economic development plans. Urban planners use multifaceted investigations into local and regional economies—in the context of national and global influences—to assess how different elements of the urban system, such as multi-modal transportation, land-use plans, employers, and housing development can work together to foster sustainable economic development.
   
   
3. Transportation. Urban planners strive to plan transportation systems that minimize environmental impacts and provide access to our many destinations, including jobs, services, schools, and amenities. Planners understand the role of historical transportation patterns in shaping towns and cities, and how transportation planning and policy can be combined with land use planning, housing development, and economic development to shape more sustainable cities.
   
   
4. Affordable housing. Urban planners develop policies, plans, and tools that help to produce adequate and affordable housing. Urban planners understand the institutions involved in national, state/provincial, and local housing markets, how they are affected by existence or absence of housing policies and programs, and other reasons for inadequate or unaffordable housing. 
   
   
5. Global context. Urban planning is global in practice. Urban planners knowingly work in an interconnected global economy and are actively developing a more integrated understanding of international conditions to inform and address local urban problems and opportunities while being mindful of how planning interventions have direct global environmental impacts in terms of climate change, environmental justice, and environmental degradation.