city planning

American  

noun

1. the activity or profession of determining the future physical arrangement and condition of a community, involving an appraisal of the present condition, a forecast of future requirements, a plan for the fulfillment of these requirements, and proposals for constructional, legal, and financial programs to implement the plan.

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city planning British  

noun

1. the US term for town planning

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Other Word Forms

• city planner noun

Etymology

Origin of city planning

First recorded in 1910–15

Example Sentences

"This discovery gives us a rare look at how the early Romans experimented with city planning," he said.

From Science Daily • Dec. 2, 2025

Mr. Angel is a professor of city planning at New York University.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 17, 2025

To be back on Temple Street talking about cities was exciting, and I wanted to see how urbanists from across the country would perceive this place that had so shaped my sense of city planning.

From Slate • Sep. 21, 2025

Those who have wanted to build bigger homes face more arduous standards, such as approval from the city planning commission and potential appeal to the Coastal Commission.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2025

What the Hellenistic architects did was to think out consecutive schemes of city planning, in which the dominant motive of arrangement was artistic.

From The Legacy of Greece Essays By: Gilbert Murray, W. R. Inge, J. Burnet, Sir T. L. Heath, D'arcy W. Thompson, Charles Singer, R. W. Livingston, A. Toynbee, A. E. Zimmern, Percy Gardner, Sir Reginald Blomfield by Livingstone, R.W.