Land Use Data: Imagery Explorer

The Imagery Explorer showcases the Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning’s large collection of historical aerial photographs of northeastern Illinois from 1970 through 1995. The archive includes 6,300 images in 6 of the region’s counties.

Historic aerial photographs are valuable resources for planning activities like landscape and land use analysis, environmental impact assessments, development projects, and education. These images provide a method for examining changes in properties, neighborhoods, and land use in general. You also can examine changes in historical, environmental, or architectural information about certain sites over time.