Cincinnati is home to an important first in urban planning history. It was the first city in the United States of America to have a comprehensive plan approved and adopted into law by a City Council. The Official Plan of the City of Cincinnati (1925) aimed to “plan for the orderly development of the city during the fifty years to come” and strived to “foresee and make provision for those things which shall tend to increase the public health, safety, convenience, comfort, prosperity, beauty and general welfare of Cincinnati as a home for its citizens.” The plan is divided into eighteen chapters, outlining a variety of project proposals for rapid transit to “schools and play-yards” improvements, and two appendices, including the building zone ordinance. Read the Official Plan of the City of Cincinnati here. Other Cincinnati-wide planning efforts, such as the Cincinnati Metropolitan Master Plan (1948) and our current comprehensive plan, Plan Cincinnati (2012) can be accessed on our Approved Plans page.  

In 1988, The American Institute of Certified Planners (AICP) recognized the Official Plan of the City of Cincinnati as a National Historic Planning Landmark. The plaque below is displayed inside the main entrance of Cincinnati City Hall, which was erected by the AICP and The Society for American City & Regional History.