Today we’re launching Land Explorer. This resource represents 2 years of work exploring the information needed for common good land use and how to get it out there. It is a free-to-use map-based platform aimed at helping people who are trying to use land for the common good. It combines various different land-related datasets with an easy to use interface, and clear explanations of how to use the information.
It is different from other resources in a few key ways:
- It is aimed specifically at helping people use land for the common good, developed from lots of interviews with land-based projects about the information they need. Up to now, access to this information has largely remained limited to academics, government and large companies.
- It is carefully curated. Rather than just dumping every available dataset on the user, it is organised to respond to particular needs, and provides clear information on how to interpret and use the information.
- It is simple to use – requiring very little technical knowledge. We’re taking this information out of the world of geographic information professionals, and opening it up to everyone.
We’ve had lots of ideas for how people might use Land Explorer – from finding land for new projects, to supporting planning applications, or just understanding the land around them better. Now we want people to use the platform and let us know what they want from it. This is the first version and we expect to make lots of developments in the coming year. Try Land Explorer now, find out about the land around you, and help us develop a platform that makes land work for everyone.
So why not try Land Explorer for free now – we hope you like it!
Huge thanks to our developer partners Outlandish for the amazing work they’ve done putting together Land Explorer. Big thanks also to the Peter Sowerby Foundation for supporting us to get this far. Now we are looking for ways to continue developing Land Explorer. Please get in touch if you are interested in collaborating on this. We also have a feedback form – please let us know what you think.