Urban design and landscape architecture roles need a slightly different job-search strategy from a standard architecture application. The employer is often looking for public-realm thinking, stakeholder awareness and evidence that you can work at a bigger scale.
In this episode, Liezel Du Preez brings a useful recruitment and urban design perspective to a career route that can be exciting, but easy to explain badly.
Watch: finding urban design and landscape jobs
This conversation is useful if your portfolio sits between buildings, streets, landscape, public realm and planning.
Listen: urban design and landscape career episode
The podcast version gives more time to the career route, portfolio evidence and how candidates can position themselves.
You can also open the related Architecture Social podcast page.
What urban design employers want to see
A strong urban design or landscape application should show more than attractive visuals. It should explain movement, context, density, public space, consultation, policy constraints and how people experience the place.
- Show masterplanning and public-realm thinking clearly.
- Explain the scale of each project and your role in it.
- Include diagrams that show routes, edges, uses and connections.
- Do not rely only on final renders.
- Make software and technical skills easy to find.
How to position your portfolio
If you are coming from architecture, make the transfer explicit. Show where you have dealt with site analysis, public space, mixed-use context, planning constraints or landscape-led thinking.
The mistake is assuming the practice will decode it. Spell out why the work belongs in an urban design or landscape conversation.
Common mistakes
- Using a building-focused portfolio with no public-realm explanation.
- Forgetting to show diagrams, process and strategy.
- Treating landscape as decoration rather than part of the design argument.
- Not explaining planning, stakeholder or consultation context.
- Applying for every role without checking the studio’s real project mix.
Before applying for an urban design role
Check whether your application proves the kind of thinking the role actually needs.
- One project should show public-realm or city-scale judgement.
- One spread should explain process, not only outcome.
- Your CV should make urban design, planning or landscape experience easy to spot.
Architecture Social view
Stephen’s recruitment view is that this niche rewards clarity. If your experience is broad, that can be a strength, but only when the application makes the link obvious.
Next step
Watch or listen to the episode, then review one portfolio project and ask: does this prove I understand place, people and scale?
For related career support, compare the architecture salary guide, set up architecture job alerts or contact Architecture Social for a recruiter’s view.
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