Beijing is spearheading a national pilot project for new basic surveying and mapping to meet the evolving spatial and temporal information demands of modern urban planning and development. The initiative aims to establish next-generation geographic information products and services to enhance refined governance of megacities.

In June 2021, the Ministry of Natural Resources approved Beijing as a pilot city for the National New Basic Surveying and Mapping program. Over the past three years, following the guidance of “one blueprint, two delicacy management zones, and two technical exploration zones”, the pilot has developed an innovative product system, encompassing five categories of data products including geographic entities, spatial scenarios, and customized solutions. This system is built on a citywide, multi-resolution, and hierarchical 3D data foundation. It also introduces a time-space data construction and application framework tailored for smart cities, addressing the spatial structure needs of “one core, one main, one auxiliary, two axes, multiple points, and one area.” The project has created an integrated data acquisition system and pioneered a new model for basic surveying and mapping unique to Beijing.

The pilot has also driven technological innovation, developing tools such as rapid geographic entity data collection using high-resolution imagery, automated quality assessment for diverse 3D scenes, and a unified spatial code linking geographic entities. A multi-strategy system integrating aerial, terrestrial, and satellite data has been established. Adopting the “build-as-you-apply” approach, the program has delivered demonstration applications, including cloud-based 3D reconnaissance, a 3D visualization of Beijing’s central axis, and a unified city code for spatial identification. These outcomes have been applied in natural resource management, ecological restoration, and emergency decision-making. The program also explored spatial data asset transactions and authorized public data operations, significantly enhancing the support capacity of basic surveying and mapping. These achievements have positioned Beijing as a leader in smart city construction and digital economy development, establishing the “Beijing Model” for new basic surveying and mapping. The pilot program has now successfully passed the Ministry of Natural Resources’ final evaluation.

Moving forward, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Planning and Natural Resources will focus on translating pilot achievements into actionable results. Efforts will be directed toward integrating traditional and new basic surveying and mapping systems to enable a comprehensive upgrade, linking multi-source data through geographic entities to enrich the spatial-temporal data foundation, and fostering an ecosystem of applications that leverages 3D spatial data to empower Beijing’s high-quality development.