Ratsatlas
The Ratsatlas shows public documents from municipal council information systems on a map and a timeline: where a plan is located, which committees discuss it and how it proceeds. Every detail leads back to its source.
Each city has its own Ratsatlas at its own address. Online is the Ratsatlas Bonn, with the documents from the city's council information system. Cologne and Wuppertal are in preparation.
Purpose
Local decisions shape everyday life: routes to school, squares, cycle lanes, buildings, green spaces. The documents on them are public, but they are spread across many meetings, committees and PDF files. Finding the plans for your own street often takes hours.
Almost every council document concerns a specific place. The map shows what is being discussed in your neighbourhood and in other districts. Knowing that, you can ask questions and have a say: in citizens' surgeries, district councils, local initiatives or in conversation with council members.
How it is used
It is based on the public council documents of the city, retrieved through its open interface (OParl). If a document names a street, a square or a district, it appears on the map. The timeline shows the deliberations in committees, district councils and the council, and the departments involved.
You can follow the documents for your district, for a topic or for a committee. There are topic pages on transport and mobility, housing and building, schools and education, climate and environment, and arts and culture, among others.
Limits
The Ratsatlas creates no content of its own. It arranges what the cities publish, and every detail refers back to the original document. Derived details such as a place or a topic are marked as such.
It does not assess political positions, parties or decisions. Private home addresses are not placed on the map. It sets no cookies, measures no audience and shows no advertising.
Origin
The Ratsatlas is a project of mine. The first version was built for the city of Bonn, and more cities follow step by step. It is supported by Offene Kommunen.NRW.
The source code is public on GitHub, under an MIT licence. Notes on a wrong location and suggestions for further cities are welcome.
Open the tool → Ratsatlas Bonn →Source code on GitHub →