How Helsinki’s GIS Centre expanded access to 3D city data with LumiDB

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We have piles of point clouds on our servers, updated every year. They’re extremely valuable, but only a few experts know how to use them.

Suvi Uotila Team Leader, GIS Center

Helsinki’s Urban Environment Division oversees planning, housing, infrastructure, and climate programs. Within the division, the GIS Centre maintains the city’s 3D digital twin along with extensive aerial and mobile laser-scanned datasets. Although the city collects rich spatial data every year, only a small group of experts have the tools and skills to use it.

The city launched a pilot with LumiDB to determine whether its point-cloud archive could be opened to a wider set of users through fast, browser-based access.

The challenge

Limited access and slow desktop workflows created delays

Urban planners, surveyors, and designers relied on time-consuming site visits and static 2D drawings to verify conditions on the ground. Large point-cloud files took 10 to 15 minutes to open in traditional desktop tools, and the need for specialist software limited who could work with the data.

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We spend an enormous amount of time investigating locations and doing field visits. Better use of our existing data could replace many of these.

Suvi Uotila Team Leader, GIS Center

The GIS Centre wanted to shift routine planning tasks from 2D cross-sections to 3D context, where point clouds complement the digital twin and provide an accurate view of the built environment.

The solution

LumiDB introduced fast loading and simplified access to large datasets

The team tested whether LumiDB could handle full-city point-cloud datasets and connect with existing tools such as 6DPlanner, Sova3D, QGIS, and Virtual City Systems.

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We wanted to see if heavy datasets covering large areas could be streamed easily and used in other tools.

Suvi Uotila Team Leader, GIS Center

Initial tests showed that LumiDB ingested and visualized multi-gigabyte datasets in seconds. Users could navigate Helsinki’s 3D environment directly in the browser without relying on desktop applications or manual file preparation.

Point-cloud view of a Helsinki street where LumiDB streams mobile-scan data for façades and aerial-scan data for roofs in a single visualization.

The results

Faster viewing and broader usability across departments

Datasets that previously took several minutes to open loaded almost instantly. For many tasks, even simple viewing provided immediate gains.

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This loads instantly, while other tools take 15 minutes just to open a file.

Suvi Uotila Team Leader, GIS Center

The pilot showed that browser-based visualization can make complex 3D datasets usable by non-specialists and reduce the operational load on GIS experts. It also highlighted how a database-driven approach can replace outdated file transfers that create friction and slow collaboration.

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File-based data distribution for point clouds is really a 1990s practice. It has to change.

Suvi Uotila Team Leader, GIS Center

The pilot findings will help guide Helsinki’s next steps in modernizing its 3D data infrastructure.

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