Spatially

Lowering the Barrier to GIS for Urban Planning

We build tools that turn zoning PDFs and hand-drawn maps into usable digital maps, creating an on-ramp to everyday GIS use for planning boards with limited capacity.

The Problem

Planning decisions still depend on PDFs and paper maps

~40%

of U.S. municipalities lack digital zoning maps

19,000+

municipalities across the United States

$700+

per user/year for enterprise GIS software

Many municipalities rely solely on PDFs or scanned, hand-marked documents that are difficult to work with.

Why does this happen?

Limited Budgets

Small planning boards cannot afford enterprise GIS licenses

Technical Complexity

Digitizing maps requires manually tracing boundaries

Understaffed Teams

No dedicated GIS staff to maintain digital maps

Our Solution

From PDF to Interactive Map in Minutes

Our web-based editor makes it easy to georeference zoning PDFs and convert them to usable GIS data—no specialized software required.

Step 1

Upload PDF Maps

Start with any zoning map PDF or scanned document. Our tool handles the complexity of legacy formats.

Step 2

Georeference with Ease

Align your PDF directly onto satellite imagery with our intuitive web-based editor. No GIS expertise required.

Step 3

Convert to GeoJSON

Automatically extract zoning polygons and export them as industry-standard GeoJSON files.

Step 4

Serve Your Community

Publish interactive zoning maps that residents and developers can actually use.

See It In Action

Digitize Zoning Maps with Ease

Our tool helps urban planners convert static PDF maps into usable GIS polygons. Upload your zoning map, align it to real-world coordinates, and generate digital boundaries ready for any GIS platform.

Upload any zoning PDF or scanned map

Align to satellite imagery with built-in georeferencing

Generate zoning polygons as GeoJSON

AI-assisted boundary detection (coming soon)

Anniston, AL - Zoning map aligned with satellite imagery

Why Spatially?

Built Different

While competitors focus on cities that already have digital maps, we create GIS data where none exists.

Creates GIS zoning data where none exists

Built for municipalities without GIS capacity

Free for governments to digitize maps

Expands zoning coverage into unmapped regions

Are you an urban planner?

We're looking for municipalities interested in trying out our georeference tool. If you work with zoning maps and want to help us build better tools, we'd love to hear from you.

Get in Touch

Spatially

Contact