The National Mall is the symbolic and actual center of federal Washington, D.C. and includes special landscapes (including the Tidal Basin and the cherry trees), monuments and memorials, Smithsonian Institution museums, the National Gallery of Art, the headquarters building of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and key views and vistas of the nearby U.S. Capitol and the White House. The initial concept for a mall in this location was included in the L’Enfant Plan (1791-92) and the concept was enlarged and revised in the McMillan Commission Plan (1901-02). Other significant plans and the design and location of new buildings, landscaping and memorials during the 20th century produced the National Mall we know today.

The Committee of 100 on the Federal City has long been concerned with the design and development of the National Mall and its connections with the surrounding city. In 2006 the National Park Service, which administers most of the land area of the National Mall, began work on an updated National Mall Plan intended to guide development of the National Mall for the next 50 years. At about the same time the National Park Service began to move forward with planning for a number of improvement projects designed to upgrade, restore and provide security for key features and areas of the National Mall.