<p>The steady rise in local-level losses of disasters, the absence of an overarching theory of disaster management, and the similarities and mutual relations between the fields of “urban planning” and “disaster management” strongly motivate optimizing local disaster planning by applying urban planning theories. This study aims to determine the appropriate disaster preparedness and response planning theories for local communities by investigating urban planning theories. To achieve this, we identify the features of local-level preparedness and response planning as “criteria” and the features of 10 planning theories as “alternatives” via an organized search comparative analysis method. We compare planning theories based on the relationship between their features and the criteria to preliminary evaluate their potential for local-level preparedness and response planning. Then, we utilize ranking questionnaires to obtain disaster management experts’ ranking of the criteria according to their importance and apply the Ordinal Priority Approach (OPA) to determine the weights of the criteria. We collect planning experts’ scores on the planning theories according to the criteria through secondary questionnaires and apply a hybrid analysis approach, including the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and OPA, to final evaluate and rank planning theories and determine theories that possess the most suitable features for local preparedness and response. The novel findings of this research reveal that Collaborative Planning, Contingency Planning, and Equity Planning theories possess the greatest potential features to be integrated and develop an optimized planning theory for disaster preparedness and response planning in urban communities.</p>