Planning and development information has never been more available, but turning it into something useful remains a challenge. From AI-powered zoning analysis to data visualization, and housing feasibility, we've explored how better access to authoritative planning data can support better decisions.

In Part 1, we explored whether AI can be used to extract planning data from zoning by-laws. In Part 2, Jocelyn puts that question to the test. How accurate are today's AI models when faced with zoning regulations and legal planning language? What level of accuracy would planners actually trust?

Good planning starts with good data. Better planning starts when everyone can understand that data. Maps help residents, developers, municipal staff, architects, lawyers, and journalists work from the same information and understand a property's context faster.

#Canadian #Wildfire App built on #ArcGIS Experience Builder tinyurl.com/4fajatup #wildfires #Canada #PublicSafety #fires #GIS #esri #esriCanada #mapping #ArcGISApps #GISchat #geospatial #geosky

Speed matters in planning and housing development. AI can deliver answers in seconds. But how accurate are those answers, and what data are they based on?

Planning information is public, but that doesn't always make it accessible. In our latest newsletter, we look at how municipalities are making planning information easier to access and understand, alongside a few recent product and data updates. www.linkedin.com/pulse/making...

Making planning information easier to access isn't just a technology problem

Planning departments invest enormous time creating policies, maintaining datasets, updating zoning maps, reviewing applications, and engaging with their communities. Yet despite all that work, finding...

linkedin.com

Growth is happening in every community. The challenge is understanding where it's happening, what's driving it, and how to plan for it. Our municipal program helps connect development activity, housing opportunities, and local data to provide a clearer picture of growth.

Every profession sees the same property differently. A planner sees policy. An architect sees possibility. An investor sees risk. A developer sees feasibility.

Ontario fixed the zoning. The missing middle is still slow to build. The gap: knowing a neighbourhood allows a fourplex isn't knowing this lot does.

Some cities and provinces are doing their best to solve the policy challenge. Execution still has work to do. At 1041 Willowdale Avenue in Toronto, a single detached home is becoming five rental homes through a fourplex and a garden suite.

If you're in municipal planning in Canada — free webinar tomorrow on using location intelligence to hit growth goals (housing, infra, climate). 1 hour, non-technical, recording available either way. pages.esri.ca/WSI-26JUN18-... #gis #urbanplanning #municipalplanning

Smarter Cities Start with Spatial Insights

Join us for a non-technical webinar geared specifically toward municipal planners, where we discuss how location-based data and analysis tools can help you reach your growth goals. Whether you’re work...

esri.ca

Toronto's missing middle housing policies are beginning to show results, but not evenly across the city. Our latest article explores where development is happening, where it is not, and what this means for housing access and affordability. www.ratio.city/blog/missing...

Missing middle housing in Toronto: from policy intent to real-world outcomes — Ratio.City

Explore why missing middle housing in Toronto is being built unevenly across neighbourhoods, and what needs to change for zoning reform to deliver more accessible housing.

ratio.city

Missing middle housing is gaining momentum across Toronto, but understanding what can actually be built on a site remains a challenge.

Missing Middle Housing in Toronto: How Ratio.City Simplifies Feasibility Analysis — Ratio.City

Learn how Ratio.City helps planners, architects, developers, and consultants evaluate missing middle housing opportunities in Toronto through faster feasibility analysis, zoning intelligence, and stre...

ratio.city

A free e-book just came out from the Esri Canada planning team — looking at what municipalities and the private sector are navigating right now, and the solutions helping teams build stronger communities with more confidence in their decisions.

The centre of gravity in housing analysis is moving. As-of-right multiplexes, mid-rise intensification, gentle density — none of it fits the tools built for tower sites. We launched missing middle workflows for Toronto, and more. Click below www.linkedin.com/pulse/housin...

Housing analysis is moving beyond the tower. Our tools should too.

Why we built missing middle workflows for Toronto first and what it says about the next phase of planning technology. For most of the last decade, the centre of gravity in housing analysis has been th...

linkedin.com

Toronto's condo market is crashing. Meanwhile, thousands of large single-family homes sit half-empty across the Annex, Cabbagetown, and Parkdale. Here is why internal conversion of existing homes might be the most overlooked answer to the housing crisis. www.ratio.city/blog/toronto...

Toronto's Hidden Housing Inventory: Multiplex Conversions — Ratio.City

Toronto's existing homes can deliver missing middle housing faster, cheaper, and greener than new builds. See how internal conversions unlock hidden supply.

ratio.city

Open data was phase one. Open infrastructure is phase two. New on our blog: why most municipal data still cannot support modern planning, and what needs to change next. www.ratio.city/blog/open-da... #cityplanning #urbandata #urbanplanning #housing #infrastructure #missingmiddle #buildcanadahomes

From open data to open infrastructure for municipalities — Ratio.City

Open data isn't the finish line. See why weak data foundations limit planning tools and what Canadian municipalities must get right to make data usable.

ratio.city

Missing middle or going higher? Every city is answering differently. Vancouver builds up. The GTA has missing middle in pockets. Each municipality moves at its own pace. The data is fragmented and hard to navigate. We pull it together, in context, with no AI hallucinations.

Canada's condo market has stalled. Missing middle is everyone's go-to fix — but one province mandates upzoning, another leaves it to cities, a third has no framework at all. Even within provinces, the math swings hard parcel to parcel. Full post 👇 www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

#urbanplanning #cityplanning #housing #affordablehousing #missingmiddle #architecture #gis #realestate #buildcanadahomes #proptech #planningtech | Ratio.City, a division of Esri Canada

Canada's condo market has stalled. Missing middle (multiplexes, townhomes, and gentle density) is one of the vital solutions to our housing crisis. Federal, provincial, and municipal voices all agree....

linkedin.com

"Your project? You can't build it here. A new policy just came out." How many times have you heard this? Sometimes it's obvious. Sometimes it lands a year in. Or two. Worst case? You already bought the land, and one day it gets categorized as a flood zone. Could this have been avoided?

Final days to register for our CIP webinar. Non-technical planners: discover how spatial data helps identify housing growth zones, model infrastructure scenarios, and make a clearer case to council. Thursday May 7, noon EST. members.cip-icu.ca/mpower/event... @cip-icu.bsky.social #urbanplanning

Early-stage planning runs on a thousand emails because everyone uses the same data sources but needs different insights from them. Centralize it. Make it shareable. Make it secure. Suddenly the meeting is shorter and the project moves. That's what we do, from parcel to tower. Schedule a call today.

Planning decisions need two things: the right data, and the context to understand what it's telling you. One without the other leads to confident conclusions that aren't grounded.

We added new data layers to the platform, including water infrastructure, road infrastructure, and grocery locations in Montréal, to give planners and developers better site context. We also published part one of a series on AI and zoning by-laws. www.linkedin.com/pulse/two-pr... #urbanplanning

No two projects start from the same place.

A developer sizing up a site needs different information than a planner reviewing a neighbourhood. But both need reliable data, fast, and without having to hunt for it.

linkedin.com

No parcel data in your area? On Ratio.City you can still search by building size and zoning criteria to find sites that fit your project. Our Locate tool already supports transit, heritage, and more. Quebec City example below. #urbanplanning #cityplanning #housing

Chaque projet est différent. Et les données aussi. Zonage, transport, écoles, 3D, ombrages, accès aux épiceries — construire des logements, ça demande le portrait complet.

The Toronto condo market just hit a 30-year low. Zero new launches in Q1. Developers, planners, and munis are under real pressure to find the next opportunity and get it right. Ratio.City gives you 1,600+ verified data layers to make that call with confidence.

Ottawa now has two active zoning bylaws. By-law 2026-50 passed in March, but 2008-250 is still in effect until the OLT process wraps up. When they conflict, the stricter one applies. Both layers are now on Ratio.City.

People are starting to rely on AI more and more for work. But zoning by-laws aren’t exactly straightforward. This looks at why the type of model you use matters if you actually care about accuracy. www.ratio.city/blog/can-ai-... #urbanplanning #housing #citybuilding #Cityplanning

Can AI extract planning data from zoning by-laws accurately? | Ratio.City — Ratio.City

Can AI extract planning data from zoning by-laws accurately? Part 1 explores LLMs, NLP, model architectures, and the risks and limitations of using AI with legal planning text.

ratio.city

Most site assessments miss the question that matters most. Not "what's allowed here?" but "what's actually possible?" Zoning tells you one piece. Infrastructure tells you what's real.