A Public Funeral For Planning In Cincinnati

"The funeral is now being arranged for urban planning in Cincinnati -- the first city in the country to have a comprehensive master plan (1925) and the birthplace of city and regional planning as applied in the U.S... The recommendation to abolish the planning department came from the City's Economic Development Task Force, chaired by George A. Schaefer, Jr., the chief executive officer of Fifth Third Bank, and City Manager Valerie Lemmie... Following these debates, Cincinnati needs to proceed with abolishing its Department of Economic Development and create a real planning department that does long-range planning and provides guidance to independent real estate developers."