Land iQ
Helping NSW government agencies make faster, smarter decisions about the use of land.
World-first data platform for use of land
Land iQ is a world-first data platform that helps NSW Government agencies make faster, smarter decisions about the use of land. It is a spatially enabled whole-of-government tool for strategically evaluating land use.
Land iQ was developed and tested in-house in collaboration with agencies across NSW Government and in partnership with WSP Australia, Giraffe and Aerometrex to reduce the number of related, yet different, methods and tools used across government to assess the effects of different land uses.
Land iQ brings more than 40 land-use data types into a single platform which streamlines existing planning and pre-development processes, and reduces timeframes for due diligence and government spending on consultants. It makes it easy to search more than 8 million lots and properties to test the effects of different land-use scenarios.
The platform uses smart technology to speed up planning processes. It helps unlock more homes for people by spotting planning barriers and exploring ways to provide practical solutions across the state.
The tool supported the delivery of temporary housing in Northern NSW as part of the Government’s flood response.
Land iQ is a living platform that will evolve and adapt to the future needs of users, using new digital resources as they become available.
We are rolling out Land iQ to all 128 NSW local councils and plan to make it available to other levels of government, local Aboriginal land councils and researchers.
Features
- Data library – A comprehensive spatial and government data library including assumptions about buildings and open spaces sourced from agencies such as School Infrastructure NSW, Health Infrastructure NSW and Landcom.
- Site search – Advanced, multiple-criteria site searching including ownership, size, planning controls, and proximity to services, infrastructure, amenities, constraints and more.
- Geocentric analysis – A comprehensive analysis of a particular location against benchmarks and other geographies.
- Scenario planning – Analysis of land-use scenarios to understand the effect of change in use across social, economic, environmental and financial metrics.
Benefits
- provides a holistic and strategic approach to decisions about land use
- enables decisions based on evidence
- creates a centralised and comprehensive data register of relevant data sources
- provides a robust digital visualisation planning tool that uses urban analytics to support scenario planning and business cases
- delivers an in-house solution and makes it easier for government to work together with a collaborative environment for sharing projects, datasets and developing scenarios to test potential use of land
- delivers better community outcomes.
Land iQ in action
Find out how Land iQ improves land-use decisions and has helped government agencies respond to floods, as well as housing supply and affordability.
Land iQ – Northern Rivers Reconstruction Authority
Land iQ – Housing affordability crisis
Frequently asked questions
There are many bespoke methods, tools and systems used across government for analysing land use. Land iQ brings all of these into one place, which will streamline existing planning and pre-development processes.
We developed the tool to reduce the number of related, yet different, methods and tools used across government to assess the effects of different land uses. The tool also reduces timeframes for due diligence and government spending on consultants.
Land iQ uses a common database of inputs and assumptions to inform decisions about land use that are based on evidence. It allows users to analyse land and property assets more consistently and strategically.
There are currently over 100 data sources in Land iQ’s spatial data library. This includes an expanding suite of data from open access sources, government data sources and indicators.
The tool can be used to:
- identify sites with a set of criteria
- do site layouts or feasibility studies
- make preliminary assessment of business cases
- support strategic planning and development assessment by analysing the local context from a street or suburb scale, to the local government area and regional context
This helps planners understand the existing economic, social, demographic, cultural and environmental context.
Land iQ has already helped the Housing Recovery Taskforce find and analyse sites for temporary accommodation. It will use the tool to find sites for long-term homes.
Land iQ provides a consistent, whole-of-government way of identifying sites. The tool will allow users to understand planning context and find sites with acceptable environmental risks when delivering residential development.
Land iQ can be used to:
- identify areas of priority for housing development (and type of housing) and shortlist sites using multi-criteria search
- assess site and local government area resilience and impacts for planning tasks and considerations for site development
- do preliminary site due diligence using the data library
- display how the delivery of critical infrastructure aligns with developing new homes
- generate or upload 3D designs to understand built form and environmental impacts
- use all modules to combine relevant data, strategic plans, state environmental planning policies and analytics to assess development applications or rezoning proposals.
No, not as a complete tool, which is why we went to market in 2021 to find a development partner. Certain aspects, like the spatial viewer platform Giraffe, already existed. We have built on these in the development of Land iQ.
We are working with NSW local councils to roll out access to Land iQ. Once we complete some product improvements and introduce the tool to councils, we aim to roll out access to other stakeholders, including researchers and local Aboriginal land councils, from 2025.