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Google-Microsoft Open Buildings - combined by VIDA

This dataset merges Google's V3 Open Buildings and Microsoft's latest Building Footprints. It contains 2,579,035,323 footprints and is divided into 185 partitions. Each footprint is labelled with its respective source, either Google or Microsoft. It can be accessed in cloud-native geospatial formats such as GeoParquet, FlatGeobuf and PMTiles.

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What's in it

Data offered docs-verified: building footprint polygons (Google V3 and Microsoft merged) · bf_source label (Google or Microsoft) · confidence score (Google-sourced footprints only) · area_in_meters · bbox struct (xmin, ymin, xmax, ymax) · boundary_id and country_iso · geohash (precision 8)
Coverage llm-inferred: Global per ENTRY metadata; 185 country-level partitions (CGAZ ADM0). Google-sourced footprints come from an inference area in Africa, South Asia, South-East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean. Microsoft coverage area is not stated in the docs. · Microsoft source imagery 2014–2023. Google source dates and the merged release date are not stated.
Update frequency docs-verified: No update schedule stated. Last updated 21 Aug 2025 per page metadata; latest changelog entry is v2.0 (2024-09-04).
Formats docs-verified: GeoParquet 1.1.0 · FlatGeobuf · PMTiles
Access docs-verified: Public visibility; ODbL v1.0 licence. No API key or login is stated in the docs; anonymous HTTPS/S3 access is per ENTRY metadata.

Useful for

Use cases llm-inferred: Flood exposure: count and area of building footprints inside a modelled flood extent, using the per-country GeoParquet partition · Site screening: building footprint overlay for development-boundary and constraint mapping in drainage or civils design · Overseas water and sanitation baseline: footprint density by district as a proxy for demand on non-UK projects
Audience llm-inferred: GIS analysts · flood risk consultants · drainage engineers · civils engineers · planners

Limitations

Constraints llm-inferred: Google-sourced footprints have no building type, street address or attributes beyond geometry (per docs) · Microsoft-sourced footprints have null confidence values (per docs) · Google inference area is Africa, South Asia, South-East Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean; UK coverage is not stated, so UK suitability needs checking · Source imagery dates 2014–2023; last update 21 Aug 2025 is over a year old as of 15 Oct 2026 · Partition country_iso=None holds unnamed geoboundaries (e.g. Abyei), not a single country · Footprints are split by country, so multi-country queries need several files · No spatial accuracy or validation metrics are given in the docs · ODbL v1.0 attribution and share-alike obligations apply to derived databases (general licence knowledge, not stated in the docs)

Licence: see product README
Authentication: Public; anonymous HTTPS/S3 access via data.source.coop
GitHub stars: Unknown
Last commit: Unknown
Last successful page check: 14/10/2026
Page health: page reachable
Package: Not recorded
Verification: Not independently verified

Provenance & evidence

Verified via Source Cooperative API /api/v1/products/vida (public product, updated 2025-08-21).

Metadata observed 14/10/2026 · research sweep: manual-2026-10-15 (source.coop)