A story-driven geospatial platform for creating, editing and playing narrative map experiences — combining 2D & 3D views, GeoJSON, WMS layers and interactive map states.
The Data Narrator add-on frontend provides the authoring and playback experience inside Masterportal — communicating complex urban datasets as engaging, step-by-step stories.
Browse, manage and publish geospatial story experiences. Full overview of all narrative map projects in one place.
Intuitive authoring UI for building multi-step map narratives. Add text, images, layer configurations and map states to each step.
Smooth, guided story playback with animated map transitions between steps — for presentations, public engagement and planning.
Import, style and display custom GeoJSON data layers directly within story steps, without any external tooling.
Embed 3D urban models and switch between 2D and 3D perspectives within a single story to show spatial context.
Combine WMS layers, GeoJSON, 3D layers and interactive map states — each step can configure its own complete map view.
The platform turns complex urban datasets into guided, interactive map stories that anyone can follow — no GIS expertise required.
Start a new narrative project in the story dashboard. Add a title, description and cover image.
Use the step editor to add text, images, and configure map states for each chapter of your story.
Select WMS layers, upload GeoJSON data, or add 3D models. Each step can show a different map view.
Publish your story to the platform and share it with citizens, stakeholders or planning teams.
Data Narrator was built at the City Science Lab Hamburg as part of Connected Urban Twins — a German research initiative that ran until 2025.
Explore published narrative map experiences built with the platform — see real urban data stories from Hamburg and beyond.
Open Platform ↗The Data Narrator add-on frontend — story dashboard, editor, playback, layer selection and all surrounding UI logic for Masterportal.
View on GitHub ↗The interdisciplinary research lab at HafenCity University Hamburg where Data Narrator was conceived and developed.
Visit Lab ↗The German research initiative that created Data Narrator — connecting digital urban twins across cities for better urban planning and participation. The project concluded in 2025.
Learn More ↗