Our AI Policy

We use AI in parts of our own work, and we think it's worth being plain about how. So today we're publishing our AI Policy, a short, straightforward page on how AI shows up at UrbanForm and how it supports the people who rely on us.

Our one principle

Everything we build exists to strengthen human decision-making, keep people well-informed, and build the foundations for good relationships. That's the whole policy in one sentence, and everything else follows from it.

Land-use decisions belong to the people accountable for them: the planner reading the code, the manager weighing community priorities, the developer figuring out whether a project pencils, the architect shaping what actually gets built. AI is a tool we use to get those people better information, faster, so their judgment and collective decisions can build the future.

What that looks like in practice

A few commitments run through everything we do:

• People make the decisions. Our tools inform and equip planners and staff with clear, well-organized information. The judgment calls stay exactly where they belong: with the professionals accountable for them.

  
  

• The adopted code is always the authority. When AI helps us structure or summarize a jurisdiction's zoning code, that jurisdiction's officially adopted ordinance is the source of truth. We link back to it so anyone can check our work against the record.

  
  

• Accountability is built in. Sources are cited, data is versioned, and there's a clear path from any answer back to the record behind it. A planner can always show their work, and so can we.

  
  

• We're here to strengthen relationships. The conversation between staff and an applicant, between a city and its residents, is where good outcomes come from. Our tools are built to make those conversations clearer and better informed.

  
  

• Your data is treated with care. We work primarily from public records, and we're committed to using customer information solely to deliver and improve the service jurisdictions ask us for.

  
  

An open door

If a question ever comes up about how AI shows up in our work, we'd love to have that conversation. We’ve been working with AI (and giving free lectures and Lunch & Learns about AI since we were founded). You can read the full policy here: urbanform.us/ai-policy, and you're always welcome to reach out directly at support@urbanform.us.

We built UrbanForm to give planners and the communities they serve clearer answers, faster. This policy reflects what matters most to us as those tools grow more capable: keeping people firmly at the center of every decision.