The Ahwatukee Foothills Village is bounded by I-10 to the east, South Mountain to the north and the Gila River Indian Community to the west and south. Although most people are only aware of Ahwatukee Foothills for its planned community development, the village has its own history. The village is named after the once existing Ahwatukee Ranch which was one of the most beautiful and lavish houses when it was built in 1922.

The city of Phoenix Planning Department was asked to prepare a land use plan to identify goals and policies to guide development decisions for an area beyond the banks of the Salt River and to complement the Phoenix Rio Salado Habitat Restoration Project (Rio Salado Project). In response, the Planning Department initiated a five-phase planning process to develop an area plan. The resulting plan builds on the community's vision of how the area will develop in the future and identifies the steps needed to make that vision a reality.