The task of urban land use planning is, on the basis of the German Building Code (BauGB), to prepare and guide the constructional and other use of land in the city of Hof by means of plans.

In the preparation of these so-called urban land use plans, public and private interests are weighed against and among each other. Urban land use planning is an important instrument of urban development and urban design.

A distinction is made between preparatory urbanland use planning (land use plan) and binding urban land use planning(development plans). The land use plan represents the intended development, the development plan then contains the binding regulations.