About City Scope
Making Planning Public-Friendly
City Scope is a modern civic tech platform designed to make local planning applications understandable, accessible, and transparent. Built in Edinburgh, City Scope combines live planning data, AI-generated summaries, and intuitive design to help citizens, professionals, and communities stay informed about how their neighbourhoods are changing.
Why City Scope Exists
Most official portals are difficult to navigate, slow to load, and filled with technical documents and planning jargon. City Scope solves this.
We believe everyone should be able to understand what's being proposed around them—whether it's a new housing development, a small shop extension, or a major regeneration project. City Scope translates complex planning data into clear summaries, visual previews, and interactive tools that empower people to stay informed and engaged.
What It Does
City Scope monitors new planning applications in real time and presents them through a clean, interactive dashboard with cutting-edge features.
Live Planning Updates
Stay up to date with what's happening in your area with real-time monitoring and instant notifications.
AI Summaries
Automatically-generated explanations of planning proposals that translate complex jargon into clear language.
Impact Scores
Quick-glance indicators of how significant each proposal might be for your community and neighbourhood.
Visual Previews
Instant thumbnails and visual previews from attached documents, plans, and architectural drawings.
Grouped Projects
Related applications are automatically clustered together to show the bigger picture of development.
Interactive Mapping
Navigate applications spatially through a beautifully styled planning map with advanced filtering.
Under the Hood
City Scope runs on a custom-built, cloud-hosted platform that pulls and processes planning data as it's published by local authorities.
Data Pipeline
Backend system that ingests new applications and documents, processes them through AI layers, and geocodes locations automatically.
Analytics Engine
Structured database with clean API that powers both the website and future services, enabling advanced analytics and insights.
Press Mentions
City Scope and Harry's urban data work have been featured across various media outlets.
Edinburgh local creates handy tool to view planning applications across city
Deadline News
Coverage of City Scope as a user-friendly tool that makes Edinburgh's planning applications more accessible and transparent for residents.
User-friendly way to find out about planning applications anywhere in Edinburgh
Edinburgh Minute
Featured as a handy tool that makes local planning easier to access and understand, helping residents feel more informed about their neighborhoods.
Built Independently
City Scope is a solo project by Harry Williams, a property professional and urban data enthusiast based in Edinburgh. Everything—from the backend automation and AI integration to the UI and map interface—has been designed, built, and maintained independently.
“City Scope is my attempt to make local planning easier to access and understand. The council's current portal is very functional but can be restrictive - there is no easy way to filter by the scale of a project or category of application. I built City Scope to make this information more transparent and approachable for everyone, whether you're curious about a neighbour's extension or a major development down the street. I believe local planning shouldn't be such a mystery.”
The project is evolving fast, and collaboration is welcome. There's still a lot to build - including better maps, alerts and leads system, and wider coverage across Scotland.
Work With Us
City Scope is open to partnerships with local councils, housing developers, civic tech organisations, and research groups. Let's build the future of civic engagement together.
What's Next
City Scope is growing rapidly. Here's what's coming soon.
Planning Alerts
Get notified when a new application is submitted near you with customizable notification preferences.
Planning Reports
Generate detailed reports and analytics on planning applications with custom filtering, trend analysis, and exportable summaries.
AR Street View Mode
Use your phone camera to view applications in real-world context with augmented reality integration.
Start Exploring Your Neighbourhood
Now that you know about City Scope, dive into the platform and discover what's happening in your area. From real-time planning updates to interactive maps and analytics, everything you need is just a click away.