Dev builds free 3D map inferring building use for 77 cities from OpenStreetMap with Claude Code
Kingleyend · reddit · 2026-11-03
A developer built a free browser map that infers what every building is used for (housing density, shops, offices, industry, parking) from OpenStreetMap — no official zoning data needed — covering 77 cities in 31 countries. Rule-based inference checked against property records matches 81% of homes in Philadelphia and 67% in New York.
How Claude Code was used
- Zoning rules: Claude Code wrote the Python extractors turning OSM tags, land use, height and shape into zones; when a case was wrong, the author described it and Claude fixed the rule and added a test (728 so far). It caught tall unlabeled buildings being zoned industrial — including the Stock Exchange.
- Process: project rules live in CLAUDE.md, big features start as written plans in docs/plans, and Codex reviews changes as a second opinion.
- 3D rendering: Claude Code pulled building heights from Overpass, wrote the Three.js scene, and rendered frames via Playwright in headless Chrome, debugging flicker and bridge glitches to depth precision and OSM bridge tagging.
It also doubles as a Cities: Skylines 2 tool: export any area as an image and trace a real city in the game. MIT-licensed on GitHub.
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