Making decisions in real estate – whether buying a skyscraper, renting out office space or installing solar panels – has in most cases required showing up in person, while gathering all the necessary information was heavily dependent upon antiquated manual processes.

But now details about an entire city’s built landscape are available on a smartphone, allowing users to filter buildings by type, size or fit-out style, or dive in deeper for floorplans, tenant details, lease terms, and even virtual tours. This so-called digital mapping – a catch-all term for the application of one or multiple digital tools to provide a data-driven visualisation of properties in the context of their surroundings – is increasingly being adopted by city authorities and the real estate industry. 

While it hasn’t made visiting buildings unnecessary, it is transforming the way decisions are being made.