This short article is part of our '20 high impact research stories' series. This has been assembled to mark two decades of the City Futures Research Centre 2005-2025. Each of the 20 stories revisits an influential research study completed over those 20 years, linking it with related Centre projects and outcomes. A brochure version of all 20 stories will be published later in 2025.
Artificial Intelligence is rapidly transforming how cities are planned, managed, and experienced. But as AI systems become more embedded in decision-making processes, particularly in planning and development, questions of trust, transparency, and accountability are more critical than ever. CFRC is at the forefront of ensuring that AI technologies used in city planning are powerful, efficient, trustworthy and accessible. Through a suite of interlinked projects, CFRC is helping shape a new standard for AI in the built environment, one that values explainability, public benefit, and evidence-based practice.
MapAI: Democratising geospatial intelligence
At the centre of this transformation is MapAI, a ground-breaking tool designed to revolutionise how we interact with geospatial data. Developed in partnership with FrontierSI, MapAI enables users to perform complex spatial analyses simply by asking natural language questions—such as, “Where are all the schools in Randwick?”—without needing expertise in GIS or coding. The platform integrates seamlessly with existing digital twins and geospatial portals, unlocking powerful insights for local governments, urban planners, and the general public.
The platform has already received national acclaim, securing two prestigious Geospatial Excellence Awards for Innovation and Technical Excellence. Now spun out as a company, MapAI is led by CEO Graeme Kernich and co-founded by CFRC’s Prof Chris Pettit and Dr Bala Soundararaj, alongside Prof Hoon Han. Its success demonstrates not just technical achievement, but also the growing demand for AI systems that make city data open, understandable, and usable for all.
The project has received $1.3 million in funding through the partners – UNSW and FrontierSI for further enhancing its capability to deliver user-friendly geospatial analytics. By transforming how professionals access and interpret location-based data, MapAI is setting a new benchmark for transparency, accessibility, and innovation in AI-enabled city planning.
From tools to platforms: The Urban Copilot collaboration
Building on the success of MapAI, CFRC is also a lead partner in Urban Copilot, a $6.5 million GenAI initiative funded through the Federal Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) program. Developed in collaboration with Archistar, PEXA Group, and MapAI, Urban Copilot is a digital assistant for planners, developers, and government staff. It simplifies the regulatory maze of urban development by interpreting complex planning controls and automating development assessment workflows.
Where MapAI democratises geospatial analysis, Urban Copilot takes a broader leap into regulatory AI, offering explainable and transparent solutions tailored to industry needs. Prof Chris Pettit emphasises that this system will not just generate answers, but show how those answers were reached, ensuring the accountability and traceability essential for trustworthy AI. As such, MapAI’s geospatial chatbot capabilities are foundational to Urban Copilot’s promise of reliable decision support across Australia’s planning ecosystem.
A national framework for trustworthy AI in planning
To ensure that such innovations are responsibly implemented, CFRC is also leading a three-year ARC Discovery project, AI, cities and development assessment: Developing trustworthy support tools. Led by Prof Chris Pettit and Prof Bill Randolph, this research addresses the legal, technical, and ethical dimensions of AI in development assessment, with a view to informing planning reform and accelerating delivery of 1.2 million new homes to meet the National Housing Accord’s target.
This project provides a critical knowledge backbone to both MapAI and Urban Copilot. It explores how trustworthy AI can be embedded in planning systems and will test frameworks through real-world case studies and scenario planning with government and industry. Together, these three projects form a unified strategy for embedding trustworthy AI in the urban planning lifecycle—from location intelligence and regulatory interpretation to ethical governance frameworks.
This work is the result of a collaborative effort by a multidisciplinary team at the City Futures Research Centre. Key contributors include Prof Chris Pettit, Prof Hoon Han, Prof Bill Randolph, Dr Balamurugan Soundararaj, Dr Ryan van den Nouwelant, Dr Charlie Gillon, Dr Henry Petersen, Dr Guanhua Wang, Dr Dianer Wu, and Mr Travolta Tran. Their combined expertise across urban analytics, planning policy, AI development, and spatial modelling has been instrumental in driving the development of trustworthy AI tools for better city planning.