Peter Walker, Urban Development Visionary

Role: Planning Consultant for the city of Hialeah and Hialeah Gardens

Q: What are some of the functions in the community?
A: As a planning consultant I play many roles, when I get called for a consultation, I can be their trainer where I get to explain what the job entails. I can also be their facilitator as well, where I provide assistance as to how to proceed through the developments.

Q: What is the most important part of your job?
A: I been doing this job for years now and I take it very seriously. It is my passion. I can say the most important part of the job is to find the right strategy to help organizations define and develop future business. It cannot be any strategy; it has to be the right one to meet the organizations long-term goals. That is when the fun part begins, research begins and all to find what is best for the organization.

Q: What are some of the challenges you encounter in this position?
A: There are several challenges in this career, specially when you deal with different organizations. The most common is Impossible deadlines. Every organization is different, some are more realistic than others however, there will be times where the deadlines for a project are just impossible. Risk Assessment is another big challenge. As a planning consultant one must ensure that the risk of working on a project remains low. That is why we do so much research. This might be one of the hardest tasks to deal with, especially if the organization have unrealistic deadlines, poor teamwork, and lack of budget, like I mentioned before. Its important to keep in mind that Risk can be reduce by conducting thorough research and gathering information regarding the project, team members and the possible issues they might face during each of the project phases. The control measures can also help deal with the risks accordingly.

Q: Do you have a team?
A: Yes, this kind of job is impossible without a team.

Q: What are some of the benefits of having planners?
A: Professional planners help public officials, businesses, and citizens make wiser, more efficient decisions about how our communities should grow and develop. Specially in big cities, having planners will help to find solutions for the use of land and public domains, environmental protection, infrastructure, supply network, and many other segments which make a city functional and operational.

Q: Would you recommend this career?
A: Definitely, this is a very rewarding career. Specially when you walk by and see projects completed. It is the most satisfying feeling.

References:
David, A. (2020, July 16). Personal interview.