The Nation's First Comprehensive City Plan A Political Analysis of the McMillan Plan for Washington, D.C., 1900-1902

Abstract

Why the McMillan Plan for Washington, D.C., became the nation's first comprehensive city plan and so greatly influenced the beginnings of the city planning movement in the United States is rooted partly in its hidden political origins. This article identifies three of those origins: a now-forgotten battle over the future development of the Mall; a behind-the-scenes bargain among the American Institute of Architects, the Washington Board of Trade, and Senator James McMillan that enlarged the agenda to include citywide park system design; and a successful effort by architect Daniel H. Burnham to persuade McMillan to support an ambitious general plan rather than a tentative one. The story underscores the critical role of power and politics in the making of workable comprehensive plans, then and now.

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