Complete Guide to Free Building Footprint Data Sources
A comprehensive guide to free global building footprint datasets including Microsoft Building Footprints, Google Open Buildings, Overture Maps, DLR Urban Footprint, and more.
Building footprint data is one of the most requested GIS datasets for urban planning, disaster response, population estimation, and 3D city modeling. Here’s a guide to the best free sources.
Microsoft Building Footprints
Microsoft Building Footprints provides millions of building polygons derived from satellite imagery using computer vision. Regional releases cover North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, and Oceania.
- Format: GeoJSON / Parquet
- License: ODbL
- Best for: Urban planning, population estimation, 3D city modeling
Google Open Buildings
Google Open Buildings covers Africa, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America with billions of building polygons from high-resolution satellite imagery.
- Format: GeoJSON / CSV
- License: CC BY 4.0
- Best for: Developing region building mapping
Overture Maps Buildings
Overture Buildings provides global building polygons with height, levels, and type attributes, combining data from OSM, Meta, and Microsoft with monthly updates.
- Format: GeoJSON / Parquet
- Update frequency: Monthly
- Best for: 3D city modeling with height attributes
World Settlement Footprint (WSF)
The WSF from DLR provides a global settlement mask at approximately 10m resolution using Sentinel-1 SAR and Sentinel-2 optical imagery with deep learning.
- Format: GeoTIFF
- Resolution: ~10m
- Best for: Urban extent mapping and settlement classification
DLR Global Urban Footprint
The DLR Global Urban Footprint (GUF) provides a global settlement mask at ~12m resolution from TanDEM-X radar data, offering radar-based urban detection that works in cloudy conditions.
- Resolution: ~12m
- Best for: Radar-based urban extent mapping
Global Building Heights
The JRC Global Building Heights dataset provides mean building height estimates at 100m resolution worldwide for 3D urban analysis and improved population exposure estimates.
- Resolution: 100m
- Best for: 3D urban modeling and population exposure assessment
Workflow Tips
- Combine building footprints with population grids for dasymetric population mapping.
- Use Overture Buildings when you need height and type attributes for 3D modeling.
- Process locally with GeoDataViewer Studio — drag and drop to visualize instantly.
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