Nienke - Spatial Planning

I chose the Master’s programme in Spatial Planning because it is that part of geography that is visible in your daily life.

When I was younger, I did not really know what I wanted to become. But that changed when I started playing games like the Sims and Sim City, where you had to create and manage your surroundings. I think that is where my passion for spatial management was born. In the second year of high school, we had an assignment in geography class to redevelop a brownfield in our municipality. I got to use my spatial planning skills in practice, and I really liked it. The teachers obviously did as well; our plan was judged the best!

I chose the Master’s programme in Spatial Planning because it is that part of geography that is visible in your daily life. My lecturers in my first year told me that once you study spatial planning, you can no longer sit in a train and just look out of the window. You will always be thinking about why the things you see are how they are, how they could be improved, and who should be involved in that.

What I really like is that the things you learn are truly visible in your daily life. For example, I enjoy walking or cycling in Utrecht and thinking about all the concepts we have learnt and really seeing and grasping them with my own eyes. What I really like about this is that, as a planner, you can really make a difference in people’s lives.