Dr. Johnny Coetzee started working as a town planner in 1984, in the former Department of Local Government of the erstwhile Transvaal Provincial Administration. In 1985, he joined the former City Council of Pretoria as a town planner in the Guideline Planning section and was later in 1994, promoted to the position of Chief Town Planner in this section. In 1996, he established the acclaimed Pretoria Inner City Partnership (PICP) and was subsequently appointed as the Programme Manager of this Partnership and also elected as an Executive Member and Director of the Partnership Company. During 1997 – 1998, Johnny Coetzee initiated and headed the 12 Pretoria IDP processes (the so – called first round of IDPs), which were implemented in the greater Pretoria area. In the beginning of 2000, he was nominated and requested by the Municipal Manager to establish and develop a new metropolitan, spatial and strategic planning division for the newly formed City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality, and subsequently also headed this section during the period 2000 – 2003.

In November 2007, Johnny Coetzee resigned from the Tshwane Metropolitan Council to establish the planning firm Urban Innovate. In June 2009, he was appointed as a full time senior lecturer in the Town and Regional Planning Department of the University of Pretoria.

​