FlatCityBuf is a new cloud-optimised format for 3D city models based on FlatBuffers and CityJSON.
The schemas and software for conversion to/from CityJSON and to read/write FlatCityBuf are publicly available at https://github.com/cityjson/flatcitybuf under a permissive license.
Main features
- Fast deserialisation: 9-250× faster than existing formats
- Zero-copy data access: Efficient memory usage without data copying
- Compact storage: 10-30% compression compared to CityJSON
- Memory efficient: Uses 2-6× less memory
- Speed: 9-250× faster deserialisation performance
- Spatial and attribute indices: Enables efficient queries to retrieve partial data
- CityGML compliance: Adheres to the established CityGML v3.0 data model
- Partial data access: Efficient queries through spatial and attribute indexing
If you use FlatCityBuf in an academic context
Baba, Hidemichi, Ledoux, Hugo, and Peters, Ravi (2025). FlatCityBuf: A new cloud-optimised CityJSON format, Int. Arch. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci., XLVIII-4/W15-2025, 17–24
Baba, Hidemichi FlatCityBuf: a new cloud-optimised CityJSON format. MSc thesis in Geomatics, Delft University of Technology. 2025.