Platform
Platform
The platform shows how public research, mapped context, working copies, and tool-based follow-up can stay attached to the same places.
User Workflow
Start with research. Keep the place. Use the tools.
Research Library
Start from a published place with mapped context, source trails, and related geography already attached.
Your Locations
Create a private place record for a site you are tracking even when it is not yet in the library.
Watchlist Blog
Pull in current reporting, change notes, and watchlist updates tied to the same place and geography.
Field Network
Request local photography, verification, and site follow-up when a record needs another pass on the ground.
Workspace
The workspace keeps the place, its history, your notes, maps, and follow-up work inside one continuous record.
Personal Research Agents
Run place-specific questions, saved threads, and working notes against the same record.
Maps, Archives and Datasets
Layer maps, archive material, and structured datasets without losing the place anchor.
Notes, Analysis and Signals
Keep observations, change tracking, and evolving analysis attached to the site as work develops.
Tax, Incentives and Regulations
Store credits, zoning, preservation rules, and policy context in the same workspace.
Workspace
Keep research, tools, and site context attached to the same place
Once a place is in your workspace, the research does not have to split away from the working side of the platform. The same record can hold article context, live map work, Sanborn Maps, Signals, incentive screening, notes, chat, linked places, and private comments in one place.
That gives you a steadier way to keep track of what you found, what changed, and what still needs a closer read.
Workspace Layers
Research
Start from the library or bring in your own place record.
Tools
Use live maps, Sanborn Maps, Signals, incentive screening, measurement, and workspace chat from the same record.
Location Details
Keep the saved title, status, address, coordinates, and related record details close by.
Working Context
Linked Locations
Connect related places and keep the relationship visible from both records.
Notes + Chat
Keep working notes, private comments, and saved follow-up questions attached to the same record.
Incentives
Screen likely state and federal preservation incentives and compare live grants from the same record.
Research Library
Research in the platform can start with the library or with your own place
Urban Lithograph provides over 500 mapped places to start from, and each article brings together narrative, key facts, sources, related reading, geographic context, and recent coverage in one place.
You can also add a location of your own, then use the same platform to keep the research and tools attached to that place.
Ways In
By place and region
Start with one location and widen the frame into corridors, cities, regions, and cross-regional comparisons.
By type and status
Compare active sites, ruins, redeveloped districts, industrial landscapes, and other categories on more equal footing.
With maps and context
Hero imagery, map views, and location details keep each article tied to real geography from the start.
Research Details
Clear narrative framing
A concise overview and fuller narrative give you a dependable first read before you branch into your own questions.
Key facts and source trails
Fast facts, citations, and linked references give you a usable backbone for follow-up research.
Related themes and reading
Themes, connected places, FAQs, related reading, and recent coverage signals open clear paths for your deeper investigation.
Map Tools
Work from the map as an active research surface, not just a locator
The platform includes map-first tools that help you measure access, compare viewpoints, verify a site across multiple basemaps, open Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, and follow live signals from the same research thread. Instead of treating the map as a static backdrop, the workspace turns it into part of the research method.
That is useful when you need more than an address: an exact approach path, a larger site boundary, a historical page reference, a radius check, or a live road route back to the location itself.
Included Tools
Distance measure
Measure access paths, setbacks, and on-site distances directly on the map instead of estimating by eye.
Area measure
Outline lots, yards, campuses, or irregular sites to estimate footprint and compare larger areas with more precision.
Radius rings
Drop quick distance rings around a point to understand walking range, approach zones, and surrounding access at a glance.
Live location + road route
Show your live position on the map and calculate a real road-route distance back to the site instead of relying on a straight-line estimate.
Sanborn Maps
Open Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps from the same location record to compare historical sheet coverage with the place you are researching, then follow newer signals around that same site.
Precise pin placement
Search by place, rough address, or exact coordinates, then pin the site precisely even when the location is not tied to a conventional street address.
Multi-map verification
Switch between Google, Mapbox satellite, and street maps to confirm the same site from different visual references.
3D building context
Use three-dimensional building views to read massing, frontage, and surrounding context with more confidence.
Fly-around context view
Run a cinematic fly-around to understand approach, massing, surrounding streets, and how the site sits in the larger urban fabric.
Workspace AI
Use location-linked workspace chat for follow-up research
Workspace chat stays attached to each location record instead of floating off in a separate tab. Today the member workflow supports OpenAI-based chat with saved conversations, image prompts, and optional Search Web turns for current questions.
Location-linked chat
Ask follow-up questions inside the same place record instead of starting over in a separate thread.
Saved conversation threads
Start a new conversation, return later, and keep the notebook attached to the place it belongs to.
Image prompts
Attach photos or scans to a workspace message when a place needs a closer visual read.
Search Web turns
Turn on Search Web for a specific message when the answer depends on current information.
Research Context
Keep the public record and workspace context close to the place
The workspace already ties a place record to the public research it came from, matched Sanborn Maps, live Signals, and the saved location details that anchor the record. That gives you more than a blank pin when you return to a site.
Instead of promising every outside dataset at once, the platform keeps the contextual layers that are already built into Urban Lithograph close to the research itself.
Included Context
Public research source
Keep the originating Urban Lithograph article attached to the workspace copy so the narrative context stays nearby.
Sanborn Maps
Browse matched editions and sheets from the Library of Congress collection without leaving the location record.
Signals
Read the latest Google News coverage and public-attention movement for the place in one workspace view.
Location details
Keep the saved title, status, address, coordinates, and related record details on the same workspace panel.
Saved Workspace
Keep the private working record tied to the place
The location workspace is not just one notes box. Each record has separate panels for notes, chat, saved conversation threads, linked places, and private comments, so follow-up work stays organized instead of collapsing into one long page.
That structure makes it easier to come back later and see what you wrote, what you asked, what you linked, and what still needs attention.
Included Panels
Workspace Notes
Write and edit location notes in visual or code mode inside the record itself.
Workspace Chat
Save location-linked chat threads and start new conversations when the question changes.
Linked Locations
Connect related places and surface those links on both records.
Private Comments
Keep internal comments with the location without putting them on the public page.