About this demo
A proof of concept by Datopian showing what Aberdeen City Council’s public map layers could look like with a faster, friendlier front door.
What this is
The council already publishes 56 map layers on its ArcGIS Hub: the Local Development Plan, school catchments, recycling points, core paths and more. This demo takes those same public layers and puts them in a site built for finding and using them. It is not an official council website and the council has not reviewed it.
What it adds
One search across every layer
Search names, descriptions and keywords across all 56 layers, filter by topic, and go straight to the data.
Maps that load instantly
Each layer is pre-cut into vector tiles, so the map draws only what is in view, with no map server to run.
Queries in the browser
Pan the map and query what is in view, or write SQL against the layer. It runs in your browser on an open file format.
How it works
Every layer was read from the council’s public ArcGIS services and converted into open formats: PMTiles for the map, GeoParquet for queries, and CSV and GeoJSON for download. Record counts match the source for every layer, apart from a few rows with no location, which can’t be mapped. The site is static, so it needs no servers or databases, and a scheduled job can re-read the ArcGIS layers to keep it current. ArcGIS Online stays where the GIS team edits; each dataset page links back to its live ArcGIS layer.
Questions or feedback?
This demo was built by Datopian, a core contributor to CKAN and the team behind PortalJS. Write to us at hello@datopian.com. For questions about the data itself, contact Aberdeen City Council’s GIS team at gis@aberdeencity.gov.uk.