Strategic planning asks what a change in land use would deliver across a whole area. gPlan answers that for hundreds of parcels at once. Choose the sites, give them land uses with FAR, height, and setbacks, and gPlan adds up the floor area, dwellings, residents, and jobs. Add a second scenario to compare a rezoning, a growth strategy, or a precinct plan against the existing controls before it goes to consultation.
gPlan is currently in Beta. Have feedback? We'd love to hear it.
📷 Screenshot placeholder: gPlan open beside the map on the Scenarios tab, with rule cards, the Results table, and the map coloured by land use. Replace this block with the image.
What you can do with gPlan
Shortlist sites: pick the parcels you are studying on the map and save them as a layer. See Build a Shortlist in gPlan.
Set land uses: keep a table of land uses, each with its own FAR, height, dwelling size, setbacks, and costs. See The Land Use Table in gPlan.
Write rules: give land uses to sites in bulk, such as "every R2 lot over 500 m² becomes Medium density". See Write Rules in gPlan.
Compare scenarios: keep each option in its own scenario and read every result side by side. See Scenarios in gPlan and Compare Scenarios in gPlan.
Define metrics: build your own results, such as build cost or open space, from your site data and land uses. See Define Metrics in gPlan.
Preview envelopes: see each site as the building envelope its setbacks and height allow. See Building Envelopes in gPlan.
Save to Giraffe: write a scenario back to your project as a layer you can style, share, and present. See Save a Scenario as a Layer in gPlan.
Before you start
gPlan works on parcels, so your project needs a parcel layer, such as a cadastre or a parcel layer you uploaded. The built-in metrics read each parcel's area from a column named area, in m². When your layer names its area column something else, you can point the metrics at that column. See Define Metrics in gPlan.
You also need land uses to apply. You can build them in gPlan, or read your project's usages straight into it. See The Land Use Table in gPlan.
Open gPlan
gPlan runs as an app in a project. Add the gPlan app to your project, then click its icon to open it. The panel's header reads gPlan, with its version number and the line "Data-driven scenario planning".
gPlan opens on its first tab, 1 · Sites. Its three tabs follow the order you plan in: choose the sites, set up land uses, then build and compare scenarios. For a tour of every part of the screen, from the header controls to the Data preview, see The gPlan Interface.
Test a plan, step by step
A typical study in gPlan follows these steps.
Choose your study area. Pick the parcels on the map and save them as a shortlist. See Build a Shortlist in gPlan.
Set up your land uses, with the FAR, height, setbacks, and other values each one allows. See The Land Use Table in gPlan.
Write rules that give each site a land use, such as "every R2 lot over 500 m² becomes Medium density". See Write Rules in gPlan.
Add a scenario for each option you want to test, such as the existing controls and an upzoning. See Scenarios in gPlan.
Set a value on any site the rules don't fit, such as a school or a heritage item. See Override Selected Sites in gPlan.
Choose what to measure, such as dwellings, residents, jobs, or open space. See Define Metrics in gPlan and Formula Reference for gPlan.
Compare every scenario's results side by side. See Compare Scenarios in gPlan.
Check each scenario on the map, and see the building envelopes its setbacks and heights allow. See Preview Scenarios on the Map in gPlan and Building Envelopes in gPlan.
Save the scenario to your project as a layer you can share and present. See Save a Scenario as a Layer in gPlan.
For a worked example of these steps, see Example Workflow: Test an Upzoning in gPlan.
How gPlan saves your work
gPlan saves your scenarios, rules, land uses, and metrics to the project as you work, so there is no Save button for them. The header shows Saving…, then Saved, after each change, and everyone who opens the project sees the same plan.
The parcels themselves live in the shortlist layer you saved. When you open gPlan again, it reloads the sites from that layer, so save your shortlist as a layer to have it come back next time.