The first building height limitation in Chicago was enacted in 1893. This paper is to review the process in enacting the limitation, from its drafts to the enacted limitation, and Chicago's own social context that enabled lawmakers to enact such a limit. Specifically, this paper is to focus on: 1) what urban problems were arising from the boom of "skyscrapers," 2) who took part in a series of discussion in conjunction with building height controls, for what intentions they agitated the matter, and whose intentions were brought into the enacted limitation, 3) what influence the limitation caused to the city and whether the lawmakers' intentions were realized.
