By Dr Wei Yang OBE, chief executive of the Digital Task Force for Planning
If planning shapes our cities, then planning information must be treated as a public good. Yet too often, this vital information is locked away in formats that are inaccessible and unfit for modern use. Local Plans and key policy documents are still routinely published in static, hard-to-navigate formats that frustrate residents, overwhelm planners, and obstruct developers. The result is a system that limits engagement, slows delivery, and misses opportunities for smarter, more inclusive planning.
A new wave of digital transformation is underway. Surrey County Council implemented Place CoPilot, an AI-powered tool, to make complex design code information easily accessible to developers and designers. By swiftly providing trusted, source-linked answers, the tool saves significant time, reduces manual query handling, and boosts adherence to local planning standards. Its user-friendly interface and customisability enhance transparency, foster better relationships among stakeholders, and support the creation of well-designed urban environments, setting a new standard for efficiency and trust in local planning processes.
When planning data is opened up in this way, it allows key stakeholders to find what they need quickly, boosting transparency and enabling earlier, more meaningful participation. By contrast, when information is buried in lengthy reports, it delays responses, duplicates effort, and erodes trust in the process. As planning teams nationwide contend with increasing workloads, making information more accessible is crucial, not only to reduce enquiry time, but also to improve the quality of planning application submissions. This priority cannot be overstated.
This project arrives at a time when momentum is building around digital innovation in planning. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG) PropTech Innovation Challenge, developed in partnership with Geovation, has attracted over 100 proposals and 225 collaborating organisations. These include AI tools to assess development potential, platforms to visualise land constraints, and applications that automate routine processes. However, many of these innovations rely on consistent, high-quality data in order to function effectively. Without a shared approach to structuring policy information, even the most promising digital tools are limited in their impact.
This is where the Digital Planning Directory plays a critical role. Created by the Digital Task Force for Planning and seed-funded by MHCLG, the Directory brings together a diverse range of digital service area providers, encompassing data analytics, community engagement, spatial platforms, immersive technologies, and more. It also showcases over 120 real-world case studies to help planning authorities navigate a rapidly evolving marketplace. As planning becomes increasingly data-led, the Directory helps ensure that innovation is not only technically possible, but institutionally actionable. It transforms a scattered landscape of pilots into a coordinated ecosystem, offering a shared platform for learning, iteration and delivery.
One of the biggest barriers to digital adoption is not technology itself, but confidence. Only 17 percent of planning staff say they feel able to identify appropriate tools, and just 15 percent feel equipped to procure them. As a crucial digital planning resource, the Directory addresses the challenge by connecting councils with proven solutions. This ecosystem of service providers and methods enables local authorities to focus less on searching for solutions, and more on delivering outcomes.
The benefits are already becoming visible. Councils adopting digital planning solutions are reporting significant time savings across a wide range of planning activities, from responding to resident queries to assessing site constraints. Developers can measure policies algorithmically rather than parsing them manually. And communities can engage with proposals through formats that are easier to understand, reducing the sense that decisions happen behind closed doors. As a result, officers spend less time repeating tasks, and more time applying their expertise where it matters: in design review, public consultation and negotiation.
What makes the Directory especially promising is its focus on scalability. With the support from MHCLG and key partners, it sets the stage for national coordination rather than isolated experimentation.
The success of planning reform relies on how effectively planning policies and the decision-making process are communicated to key stakeholders, with a focus on transparency and efficiency. We need to build a planning system that thinks digitally from the ground up: one where data is structured, usable, and aligned to real-world service delivery. This transformation will not happen all at once. But through focused investment, coordinated efforts, and strong partnerships, it is now firmly underway.
Dr Wei Yang OBE is the CEO of the Digital Task Force for Planning and one of the UK’s leading planning professionals. She is a master planner, past President of the Royal Town Planning Institute, and has advised on sustainable planning policy around the world. In 2025, she was awarded an OBE for services to the town planning industry.
