Finding GIS Data
Data for the Built Environment
What is meant by "the built environment"?
The Built Environment includes the buildings in which we live and work, the roads that we take to get there, the structures we've built to help move electricity, water, and other resources around the globe--changes that human beings have made to the earth.
Who has this data? Where can I find it?
Built environment data is often maintained at the municipal to state government level (in the U.S.) and at similar administrative levels internationally. The level of detail required to collect this information often requires expensive surveying as part of long-term, stable programs such as county level Registers of Deeds, Land Information Offices, and Regional Planning Commissions.
In Wisconsin, this data is typically available on county land information websites or web mapping applications, from regional planing commissions, or, less often, on municipal websites. Much of this data is available on AGSL GeoDiscovery and Geodata@Wisconsin.
Most commonly requested built environment data
- Addresses
- Bike routes/paths/infrastructure
- Building footprints
- Bus routes and stops
- Historic urban growth
- Land Use
- Sidewalks
- Streets
- Parcels
- Parks
- Public Buildings/Schools
- Railways
- Real Estate & Property
- Trails
- Zoning
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Finding and Using GIS Data by Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. 