Amid housing shortages, changing demand for office space, and the need to transition to carbon-neutral living, cities are considering how they should develop over the next 30 years.
Cities across the country address these issues by creating and adopting master plans known as Future Land Use Maps (FLUMs). A FLUM map is a document that guides a city's growth and development for decades into the future. These maps outline changes to zoning maps, permitted activities and land uses within the city, locations for new commercial floor space, density increases, and areas designated for new housing supply. Today, we are excited to announce the launch of the Zoneomics FLUM API, which provides users with access to Future Land Use Map data for U.S. cities and counties.
This empowers users to create new revenue streams by adding FLUM information as a premium feature to internal or customer-facing systems. The Zoneomics FLUM API will have several benefits and commercial applications, such as:
- Empowering developers, planners, investors, and other stakeholders to easily obtain and analyze the future land use plans and policies of various areas, and compare them across different regions and scales. This would help them make informed decisions about land development, investment, and conservation opportunities.
- Supporting the creation and delivery of innovative and customized products and services that leverage FLUM data, such as web apps, web tools, mobile apps, dashboards, reports, etc. These products and services could cater to the needs and preferences of different users and customers, such as real estate agents, home buyers, tourists, real estate developers etc.
- Enabling environmental researchers, academics, journalists, and other interested parties to study and report on the trends, patterns, and impacts of future land use planning and implementation. This would help them generate insights and recommendations for improving land use practices and outcomes.
- Facilitating the integration and interoperability of FLUM data with other spatial data sources, such as zoning maps, transportation networks, environmental features, demographic characteristics, etc. This would help create comprehensive and interactive maps and visualizations that illustrate the current and future conditions of the land and its uses.
How the FLUM API Works
While a zoning map deals with current land use regulations and designations, a FLUM map focuses on future land use goals and planning to guide the growth and development of an area over time. Zoning maps and regulations are often updated to align with the goals and objectives outlined in the FLUM map.
FLUM Maps shape the future footprint of the city for zoning, development, transportation, and climate change action. Cities develop and adopt these FLUM maps and the accompanying strategic plan document every 10-30 years, setting out where greater density and taller buildings will occur.
Zoneomics has captured this important mapping data and aggregated it with the associated housing and development policy directives, generating 19 rich data attributes for each and every parcel within a city.
Build Amazing Solutions with our Zoning Data and the New FLUM API
Some examples of possible products and services that could use a FLUM API are:
- A web tool that allows users to search for properties based on their desired future land use characteristics, such as density, mix of uses, design features, etc. The tool could also provide information on the current zoning regulations, market values, amenities, etc. of the properties.
- A mobile app that guides users to explore different areas based on their future land use plans. The app could also provide information on the history, culture, attractions, events, etc. of the areas.
- A dashboard that monitors and evaluates the progress and performance of future land use implementation in different jurisdictions. The dashboard could also provide feedback and suggestions for improving future land use policies and practices.
- A report that analyzes and compares the future land use scenarios and impacts of different regions. The report could also provide recommendations for enhancing regional cooperation and coordination on land use issues.
- A generative design solution that prepares site plans that provide various scenarios for development under zoning restrictions, and compares them with scenarios under the FLUM framework.
Getting started
The FLUM API supports a variety of use cases, making future land use prediction possible. With the potential to shape how real estate is sold, developed, and used, we’re excited to see the innovations created by integrating FLUM data into various business models. To learn more about our FLUM API and Data, simply visit this page and submit a form to contact the Zoneomics Enterprise Solutions Team so you can schedule a demo.