A new AI-powered mapping platform could help planners assess housing developments, transport networks and infrastructure needs by making complex geospatial data easier to analyse and verify.
Developed at UNSW’s City Futures Research Centre, MapAI allows planners, governments and businesses to ask questions about places in everyday language and see the evidence behind the answers. For example, users can ask how much land within 800 metres of a train station is zoned for housing, which schools are in bushfire-prone areas or where demand for affordable housing is greatest.
MapAI searches relevant datasets, combines the information and runs spatial analyses. It then generates maps showing the sources, assumptions and steps behind each result. Users can inspect the evidence and assess whether the findings are suitable for their decisions.
Lead researcher Scientia professor Christopher Pettit , director of the City Futures Research Centre, says the technology could help planners assess infrastructure needs without spending hours gathering information from different sources.
“Decisions, such as assessing whether existing suburban infrastructure can absorb new homes or whether upgrades are needed, often rely on information held across multiple datasets, systems and organisations,” he says. “Bringing this information together takes significant time and specialist expertise before analysis can begin. MapAI brings together disparate datasets to fast-track the process.”
The platform draws on publicly available government datasets, including Australian Bureau of Statistics data and NSW property, infrastructure and zoning data. Users can create maps tailored to their needs, refine their questions and review the datasets used in each analysis.
MapAI CEO Steve Taitoko says the mapping platform was designed to make spatial analysis faster and more accessible.
“The platform provides transparency around the data, methods and assumptions used to generate results, while allowing users to customise analyses, save workflows and export geospatial information for planning, reporting and consultation,” he says. “By democratising access to geospatial data, MapAI empowers more people to contribute to the development of liveable and sustainable cities.”
The platform builds on three years of research at UNSW’s City Futures Research Centre into how AI can make spatial analysis more reliable and transparent.
MapAI combines generative AI with geographic information systems (GIS) to handle repetitive tasks such as finding, checking, reconciling and combining data, while working alongside existing mapping software and the specialists who use it.
MapAI chief technical officer Balamurugan Soundararaj says the platform was designed to support existing GIS capabilities.
“What MapAI doesn’t do is replace your GIS, or the specialists who run it,” he says. “Interpretation, uncertainty and accountability stay with the professional. MapAI makes the evidence faster to assemble and easier to check.”
MapAI’s technology is also being used in HowWeSurvive , an interactive map bringing together more than 1,300 first-hand accounts of disaster recovery from around the world. Users can filter stories according to location, disaster type, year and stage of recovery, helping policymakers and disaster response organisations better understand community experiences when planning future responses.
MapAI Explore launched in Australia in November. Individuals can start using the platform for free, with a monthly credit allowance, while organisations can request structured trials.
MapAI was formed with investment from UNSW and FrontierSI and has been developed in collaboration with partners including government, local councils and the not-for-profit sector.
