Sanjay Soneji is pursuing a degree in BSc Geography and Urban & Regional Planning at the University of Birmingham. His blog covers the RTPI's EXPLORE work experience pilot. The pilot has now concluded and has been superseded by a secondary school work experience toolkit for employers.
I have been fortunate enough to have been brought up in the most successful post-war new town: Milton Keynes – a city “different by design”. This design was something I almost failed to appreciate until I learnt about it within the Planning Department at Milton Keynes City Council [MKCC] on the RTPI EXPLORE programme in 2022. Since then, my sense of pride in my home town grew exponentially upon the discovery that the city really is one-of-a-kind, and that it is so forward thinking that it is able to incorporate futuristic technologies (such as delivery robots) which isn’t possible in every major city. If I was asked about town planning at the start of 2022, I wouldn’t have known what to tell you. Fast forward a few years, I’m now pursuing a degree in BSc Geography and Urban & Regional Planning at the University of Birmingham, with the future career aspiration to become a Chartered Town Planner.
Sanjay pictured with former RTPI President Sue Bridge and the team at MKCC
I got onto the EXPLORE programme by pure chance, with it was advertised as work experience in my Sixth Form. I didn’t know what to expect when I signed up, yet I finished the week with a wealth of confidence. I worked with a team of people whom I have never met before, forged professional connections whom I have kept in touch with, and most importantly developed a clear idea of the career I wanted (with the peace of mind knowing I will ultimately enjoy this work). MKCC’s EXPLORE timetable was thorough enough to also include ideas for how to progress myself to becoming a Town Planner, and to develop presentation skills by using a real planning application of a new university campus as the topic – which I presented alongside my peers to teachers and planning directors.
Sanjay and peers presented plans for a new university campus using a real planning application
Their masterplan for the project
EXPLORE has prompted me to gain further experience in Planning at MKCC, as well as in the private sector, and I was lucky enough to have been personally invited back to the offices to meet an RTPI President – something that I have aimed to do again each year since.
To say that the EXPLORE programme changed my life wouldn’t be an exaggeration: before my participation, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do when I was older.
