Tools

Urban Planner OS

An open-source AI operating system designed for urban planners, built on Claude and the Claude Agent SDK. Automate analysis, generate reports, and create custom planning tools with pre-built agents and skills.

What is Urban Planner OS?

Urban Planner OS is a modular, open-source operating system for planning professionals and researchers. Built on Claude's AI models and the Claude Agent SDK, it provides a framework for building agents, skills, and knowledge systems that automate planning analysis and decision-making.

Rather than starting from scratch, urban planners can use pre-built agents for common tasks (data analysis, report generation, impact assessment) and extend them with custom skills and domain knowledge specific to their cities.

Core Components

📋 Agents

Pre-built autonomous agents for common planning tasks:

  • Analysis Agent: Process planning data, identify patterns, and generate insights
  • Report Generator: Automatically create professional planning reports and summaries
  • Impact Modeler: Evaluate project impacts across environmental, economic, and social dimensions
  • Policy Analyzer: Review proposals against zoning codes, general plans, and regulations

🛠️ Skills

Modular skill packages that extend agent capabilities:

  • Data Processing: Import and analyze CSV, GIS, and spatial data
  • Document Generation: Create PDFs, Word documents, and presentations automatically
  • Spatial Analysis: Buffer analysis, network analysis, accessibility scoring
  • Regulatory Mapping: Cross-reference projects against local codes and standards

📚 Knowledge Base

Structured planning knowledge and frameworks:

  • Planning Standards: General plan best practices, zoning frameworks, housing strategies
  • Case Studies: Real-world examples of successful planning projects and policy implementations
  • Data Library: Reference datasets, demographic trends, and infrastructure metrics
  • Regulatory Rules: Common zoning types, FAR calculations, parking requirements by jurisdiction

Getting Started

1Clone the Repository

Download Urban Planner OS from GitHub:

git clone https://github.com/ianklassen/urban-planner-os.git

2Review the Documentation

Start with the setup guide and framework overview:

→ OVERVIEW.md - Project overview and architecture→ SETUP_GUIDE.md - Installation and configuration

3Explore the Framework

Understand how agents, skills, and knowledge bases work together:

→ AGENTS_DEFINITIONS.md - Available agents and their capabilities→ SKILLS_CATALOG.md - Skill definitions and usage→ KNOWLEDGE_BASE_STRUCTURE.md - Knowledge organization and frameworks

4Build Custom Agents

Create agents tailored to your city's specific planning needs. See the RULES_FRAMEWORK.md for governance rules and best practices.

Use Cases

Zoning Analysis

Automatically check development proposals against zoning codes, calculate FAR and setback compliance, and flag policy conflicts.

Environmental Review

Analyze projects for environmental impacts: land use changes, tree canopy loss, water quality, air quality, and GHG emissions.

Equity Assessment

Evaluate projects for displacement risk, community benefits, affordable housing impacts, and benefits to historically underrepresented populations.

Report Generation

Automatically generate professional planning reports, staff analyses, and impact assessments from project data and design documents.

Policy Benchmarking

Compare your city's policies, regulations, and standards against comparable cities and best practice frameworks.

Data Analysis

Process planning data, identify trends in housing, transportation, land use, and generate visualizations and summaries.

Full Documentation

Visit the GitHub repository for complete documentation, examples, and the open-source code.

View on GitHub