AI Meets Urban Planning: PlanningHub’s Innovative Journey at Geovation
Hello, I’m Ewa Moskwiak co-founder and CEO of the artificial intelligence (AI) company PlanningHub. Our goal – and, yes, it’s quite a big one – is to use AI to speed up Britain’s failing planning system.
We use large language models (LLMs) to sift through tonnes of planning data to provide site and project-specific planning insights for local planning authorities, developers, investors, estate agents and home owners. The aim is to give them all of the information they need without having to search for it for hours, or even weeks: with PlanningHub, they should have all of the necessary data within minutes.
We are the first company in the world to use this cutting edge technology to speed up the planning process, and we have been seeking support and strategic partnership with some of the biggest names and most innovative businesses in the country.
Right now, we’re in the research and development phase and our first trial is underway at Enfield Borough Council, but we’ve had some big breakthroughs already – one of which was being accepted into the Geovation PropTech accelerator programme.
Geovation is a hard-working, fun and entrepreneurial community, and that’s something that can’t be overstated: sometimes an insight shared over a coffee in the breakout area can save you two months of hard graft. As part of the programme, people openly share insights and experiences, so you have the opportunity to learn from each other directly too.
The fact that Geovation is run by the Land Registry and Ordnance Survey has given PlanningHub instant credibility and the Geovation team is super supportive – they have really made an effort to introduce us to the wider ecosystem. Thanks to their support we have managed to speak to top people in the public sector who we had been chasing for months and we were invited to speak at Digital Construction Week, which is great PR.
Most importantly, the setup is generous and the Geovation team really wants us to succeed. The educational programme is great too, useful and very well balanced. And on an entirely practical level, we now have great offices, which is so important when hiring staff. Our new starters are really impressed, it’s such a nice place – it even has a table tennis table – and there are always a lot of opportunities to meet others in the emerging PropTech and GeoTech world.
We’re a team of six – myself, our Chief Technical Officer and AI whizz, Professor Harald Braun and three software engineers and a town planner. At the moment, there are three levels of product development: improving the technology; scaling the business geographically; and scaling up the level of complexity it can handle from simple household extensions to more complex developments.
Being part of Geovation has given us more than a base for our business – it has given us a collaborative environment in which to really build a team. We are so grateful to be part of the Geovation community and the Geovation PropTech Accelerator.