General plan as intermediary between values and architecture

“As a comprehensive general plan, the Envision San José 2040 General Plan provides San
José with a consistent framework for its decision-making related to the City’s land uses
and delivery of municipal services. The general plan has been called the “constitution”
for land use development to emphasize its importance to land use decisions. The general
plan and its maps, diagrams, and development policies form the basis for the city’s zoning,
subdivision, and public works actions. Under California law, no specific plan, area plan,
community plan, zoning, subdivision map, nor public works project may be approved unless
the City finds that it is consistent with the adopted general plan. The State General Plan
Guidelines recommend that general plans be updated every five to ten years to ensure that
they remain relevant. This is important not only to reflect local physical and demographic
changes, but also broader changes in culture and technology.”

-from the San Jose envision 2040 general plan.

I’m interested in the use of the term “constitution” (not my quotes) in reference to a legal document whose purpose is to guide the physical development of an area.  The US constitution is the supreme law of our country, and subsequent laws created must not contradict that supreme law.

The architecture of a city must respect the supreme law of the land it occupies.  I am interested in researching how the interpretation of this supreme law changes or warps its original intentions in a kind of trickle-down distortion of values.