Urban planning meets modern AI.
Civic Atlas was founded on a simple idea: the public sector is sitting on decades of valuable data trapped in paper and legacy systems — and modern AI, used responsibly, can finally unlock it.
John Devine
Founder & CEO · MIT Master in City Planning
John is an urban planner and software developer with more than a decade of experience working with cities and the data that runs them. Before Civic Atlas, his work spanned the City of Dallas's CityDesign Studio, the Trinity Park Conservancy, bcWORKSHOP, and MIT's Civic Data Design Lab — building GIS, maps, and tools across public, nonprofit, and academic settings.
The idea for Civic Atlas grew out of that work. Doing planning in Dallas, John kept hitting the same wall: the records and paperwork that should inform smart decisions about cities were buried, messy, and hard to use. He developed the concept while earning his Master in City Planning at MIT — where Civic Atlas went through the DesignX startup accelerator — and launched the company full-time in 2023.
Outside the work, John is passionate about affordable housing, urban greenspace, and making cool maps.
We help local governments, nonprofits, and developers turn public records into usable data — pairing a decade of planning experience with modern AI.
From the North Texas and DFW Planning Board Trackers to bespoke digitization and analysis engagements, our work has been featured by Dallas Free Press, D Magazine, and MIT — and recognized as a 2025 LION Sustainability Awards Best Product finalist through our Dallas Free Press collaboration.
How we work.
Humans in the loop
AI handles the volume, but a person verifies the work. We don't ship data we wouldn't stake a decision on.
Integrated, not disruptive
We work with the software and vendors you already have — no rip-and-replace, no lock-in.
Built for the public sector
Records, zoning, plats, GIS — we speak the language of city hall because that's the world we come from.
Do more with your records — for less.
Tell us about your records and what you're trying to understand. We'll show you what's possible — and what it would cost.