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city planning

city planning

3 3.3
Designing and managing how buildings, roads, and public spaces are placed in a city
  • noun
  • /ˈsɪti ˈplænɪŋ/
  • Specialized
translation icon : planificación urbana
  • The city planning department is working on a new layout for the downtown area.

This used to be a whole subject for a whole semester in city planning education.

Examples

  • Other academic programs were closely allied with city planning programs and emphasized the history of urban and regional planning.

    Academic text (2004)
  • Huja first started working for Charlottesville in 1973, when he was hired as the director of city planning.

    Blog text (28)
  • Why do you want to work in the city and do city planning?

  • I think a good place to start is with proper city planning.

    Blog text (13)
  • I'm gonna work in the city, in city planning.

  • The city planning committee's meeting tomorrow.

  • "Then you'd have to take it to the city planning commission," his father added.

    Fiction book (2002)
  • The health department was successful in advocating for the inclusion of public health considerations into regional, county, and city planning documents, including the PSRC Vision 2020 plan, a countywide resolution, and the King County comprehensive plan.

    Academic text (2008)
  • Pittsburgh's early experience with city planning involved three giants of the new profession: Frederick Law Olmsted Jr., Harland Bartholomew, and Robert Moses.

    Academic text (2006)
  • The legislative framework of Law #131 represents a huge stride for Russia in recognizing the value of citizen participation in governance, especially for issues related to land use, housing development, and overall city planning, which are incredibly salient to the average Russian citizen.

    Academic text (2010)

Synonyms

urban planning
vscity planning
  • Specialized
7 3.9

Designing and arranging buildings, roads, and public spaces in cities and towns

is the same process but named with a different common word
urbanism
vscity planning
  • Specialized
4 5.9

The study and practice of planning and designing cities

focuses on managing the physical development and layout of built areas
town planning
vscity planning
  • UK
1 3.6

Deciding where roads, houses, and shops go in towns and cities

is used mainly for larger built areas rather than small settlements

How Comprehensive

master plan
48 4.0
city planning
  • Specialized
3 3.3
neighborhood
  • US
1.8

Surface Forms

city planning singular

Morphology

city + planning

The meaning is directly and transparently derived from combining 'city' (an urban area) with 'planning' (the act of making arrangements); together they denote planning related to cities. This noun–noun composition is productive and cross-linguistically common (e.g., 'urban planning'), so a B1 learner who knows both words would readily infer the MWE's meaning.

Etymology

The term city planning comes from the simple idea of planning a city, drawing and deciding where homes, roads and parks should go. So, city planning means 'designing and organizing the places, streets and public spaces in a city'.