What the finished map does
A visitor opens your society's page and sees the master plan sitting on a real map. Blocks, roads, parks and plots are drawn to scale. They zoom in, tap a plot and see its size, price, status and the dealer handling it. Sold plots look different from available ones.
The map reads from your inventory, not from a picture. When a plot is sold, the status is changed once. The website, the app and the sales tool all show it.
When you do not need this
Be honest about the size of your project first.
If you have one small scheme and a few dozen plots, a clear PDF plan and a phone number may be enough. A plain image with clickable areas is simpler to build and does the job.
An interactive GIS map earns its place when you have several societies, hundreds or thousands of plots, many dealers, and status that changes every week. It also needs a plan that is final. If layouts or plot boundaries are still being revised, wait.
How the build works
1. Georeferencing the master plan in QGIS
Your master plan is usually a CAD drawing, a PDF or a scanned image. It has no location attached. It is just a drawing.
In QGIS we pick control points that exist on both the plan and the ground: boundary corners, road junctions, gates. We match each one to coordinates taken from satellite imagery or, better, from your surveyor's data. QGIS then fits the plan to the earth at the right position and scale.
We check the result by laying it over satellite imagery and following the boundary and the main roads. Where the plan and the ground disagree, we tell you. We do not hide it.
2. Generating map tiles
A full master plan is a large image. Loading it whole on a phone would be slow.
So we cut it into map tiles at several zoom levels, the same method online maps use. The browser loads only the tiles for the area on screen. The map opens quickly, and plot numbers stay readable when the visitor zooms in.
Tiles are static files. They are rebuilt only when the plan itself changes, for example when a new phase is added.
3. Placing the plots
Every plot is drawn as a shape on top of the plan and given its plot number. These are separate from the tiles, which is why they can be tapped, coloured by status and searched.
Shapes can be traced from the plan in QGIS. If your CAD file already has plot outlines, we can import them. On a large society this is the longest step, and it is where careful checking pays off.
4. Linking plots to inventory
Each plot shape is linked to a record: plot number, block or phase, size, price, status and dealer. We start from your inventory sheet and match every row to a shape by plot number.
The matching always throws up problems. A plot is in the sheet but not on the plan, or on the plan but not in the sheet, or numbered differently in each. We list these for you to settle. After that, the data lives in a database and is changed through an admin screen, not by editing files.
5. Google Maps underneath
The plan sits as a layer over Google Maps. Buyers see what is around the society: the main road, the nearest interchange, schools, shops. They can switch between map and satellite view.
Google has its own usage terms and charges for heavy use. We explain how that applies to you at the start, so it is not a surprise later.
6. Video tours
Videos can be attached to a society, a block or a single plot. A visitor taps a marker and the video opens. We embed videos you supply, hosted on YouTube or a similar service, so they do not slow your own site.
Where the map appears
On your website
The map is embedded as a page or a section of your existing site. It works with a custom-built site or a WordPress one. It adapts to phone screens, which is where most buyers will open it.
In a mobile app
The same data can feed an Android and iOS app for buyers, dealers or both. Because the plots and statuses come from one database, the app and the website cannot disagree.
In a tool for your sales team
The public map is only half the job. Your sales staff need a version with more in it.
Staff log in with their own accounts. They search for plots, filter by size, price and status, change a status, assign a dealer and see details the public should not see. Whether prices appear on the public map at all is your decision. Many companies show them only to logged-in dealers.
If you also want to manage bookings and client records, PropertyDesk is our ready-made platform for property businesses. We can talk through whether the map should connect to it or stand alone. For anything specific to how you sell, we build it as custom work.
What we built for Best Estate Marketing
Best Estate Marketing is a property marketing company in Lahore that sells plots across several housing societies. We built an interactive map system for them that covers those societies, each with its own master plan.
The important design choice was who does the plotting. We did not place every plot ourselves. We built the tool so that Best Estate's own staff place the plots on the map and keep them up to date.
That matters in practice. When a new block is released, or a plot number is corrected, they do it the same day. They do not raise a request with a software company and wait.
You can read more in our case studies.
What you need to provide
The quality of the map depends on what you give us. Please gather:
- The master plan in the best format you have. A CAD file (DWG or DXF) is ideal. A high-resolution PDF or image works but takes more tracing.
- The approved layout, with phases and blocks clearly marked.
- Any survey data or boundary coordinates, if you have them.
- Your inventory sheet in Excel or CSV: plot number, block, size, price, status and dealer.
- Logos, society names and any branding you want on the map.
- Videos, if you want them on the map.
- A list of who needs access: sales staff, dealers, management.
- The name of one person who owns the inventory data.
That last point is not a formality.
Where these projects go wrong
Three things cause most of the trouble.
The plan and the ground do not match. Old plans are often approximate. We flag this during georeferencing. It is better to know before launch than for a buyer to find it.
The inventory sheet is not trustworthy. Duplicate plot numbers, missing sizes and conflicting statuses are common. Cleaning the sheet is part of the project, and it is your team's job to decide the right answer in each case.
Nobody keeps it current. A live map with stale data is worse than a PDF, because buyers trust it. Decide at the start who changes a status when a plot is booked, and how fast.
Talking to TechNova
On a first call we ask how many societies and plots you have, what format your plans are in, and who will keep the inventory updated. We tell you plainly whether an interactive map suits you or a simpler option would do. If it does suit you, we ask you to send a sample plan and inventory sheet. Contact us to arrange it.