It’s true. November 8 is World Town Planning Day. It’s a real thing. I heard about it from a city planner. And apparently it’s been around since 1949. There’s even a Wikipedia entry for it.
The Canadian Institute of Planners describes it this way.
The 20th century transformed Canada from a rural to an urban industrial society. The impact of this change on our community spaces provided great challenges for Canadian planners. Planners integrate the goals of sustainable development, good governance and economic viability to ameliorate the human environment. Their contributions to Canadian society have helped make our country a highly enjoyable place in which to live.
World Town Planning Day focuses on the progress of community planning in Canada. It highlights the valuable contributions that sound planning has made to the quality of the human environment and provides recognition of the ideals of community planning among the profession and the general public worldwide.
The same planner who alerted me to World Town Planning Day also included a link to this instructional video that will be useful for anyone thinking about becoming a city planner.