Urban Exploration Platform

Built for explorers
who respect what they find.

UrbanLens is a private, purpose-built mapping platform for urban explorers, historians, and photographers who want to document forgotten places - responsibly.

Your personal atlas of forgotten places.

Urban explorers accumulate knowledge - locations, access routes, structural notes, hazards, history - across years of fieldwork. That knowledge typically lives in scattered notes, private DMs, and memory. UrbanLens gives it a permanent, organised home.

Every pin you drop is yours. You decide what to share, who can see it, and how much detail is visible. The platform is built around the understanding that some places deserve to be documented without being advertised.

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Privacy by default

Your pins are private. Granular visibility controls let you share selectively - with friends, with trip members, or with no one.

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Document history

Each location has a community wiki for collectively recording history, access notes, hazards, and architectural details before they disappear.

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Trusted community

Trip planning, RSVPs, and shared itineraries - coordinate expeditions with people you trust without exposing location details to the world.

What we believe

01

Take nothing, leave nothing

Responsible exploration means leaving every site exactly as you found it. UrbanLens does not facilitate vandalism, theft, or damage.

02

Protect vulnerable places

Some locations are fragile. Publishing coordinates indiscriminately invites damage. Our privacy tools exist so you can document a place privately without turning it into a viral destination.

03

Safety first

Abandoned structures are dangerous. Structural hazards, asbestos, and unstable floors kill. We encourage users to record and share safety information - and to never explore alone.

04

Preserve the record

Factories, hospitals, theatres - these buildings have stories. Photography and written documentation keep that history alive long after demolition. Every pin is a contribution to the archive.

05

Community over competition

The best discoveries are shared with people who will appreciate them. UrbanLens makes sharing with trusted friends easy - while keeping the wider world at a respectful distance.

06

Your data stays yours

We don't sell your location data. We don't show ads. Your pins, your photos, and your notes belong to you and are never used for anything beyond running this platform.

Everything you need, nothing you don't.

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Interactive map

Drop pins on any location worldwide. Add photos, notes, visit dates, priority ratings, and vulnerability assessments. Filter by tags and categories to find what you need instantly.

  • Custom tags, categories, and status badges
  • Satellite, street, and topographic base layers
  • Priority & vulnerability star ratings
  • GPS coordinates extracted from photo EXIF data
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Community location wiki

Each physical location can have a shared wiki page where the community documents history, architectural details, access notes, hazards, and more - without revealing coordinates to anyone outside your circle.

  • Markdown-formatted history and notes
  • Annotated maps with arrows, shapes, and labels
  • Linked to your personal pin - separate from it
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Trip planning

Organise group expeditions end-to-end. Add activities, invite members, collect RSVPs, and share detailed itineraries - all without exposing exact pin locations to people who haven't been there yet.

  • RSVP tracking and member management
  • Per-trip privacy for location details
  • Linked to pins for instant context
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Photo management

Upload photos and have GPS coordinates pulled automatically from EXIF data. Drag untagged photos onto the map to assign locations. Annotate maps with detailed markup visible in both thumbnails and full view.

  • Automatic GPS extraction from EXIF metadata
  • Drag-and-drop coordinate assignment on the map
  • Per-photo visibility controls

Made for people who explore with intention.

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Urban photographers

Track shooting locations, document access conditions, and build a private library of sites worth returning to.

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Urban explorers

Log sites you've visited, rate their security and vulnerability, and share detailed trip notes with your crew.

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Local historians

Build a living archive of endangered heritage sites with written histories, photographs, and architectural notes.

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Industrial explorers

Record structural hazards, asbestos risks, and structural conditions to keep your crew safer on every visit.

Start mapping your world.

It's free, private, and built for people who explore with care.

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