Licence
Research use only, by source. The database combines several sources with different terms; the table says which applies to what. Nothing is sold and no training licence is granted until the authors agree in writing.
| Layer | Source | Licence today | Commercial use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Curated tier (180 records) and the taxonomy | Ellen Dunham-Jones and June Williamson, public 2021 web map and Retrofitting Suburbia | Not yet licensed to the Atlas. Shown as 'From the authors' map, not reviewed by them'. Terms under discussion with the authors; nothing signed. | undecided |
| Draft tier (1,722 records): Wikipedia excerpts | Wikipedia, per-article link on each record | CC BY-SA 4.0, attributed per page with an authors-and-history link | Allowed under CC BY-SA with share-alike |
| Wikidata facts (owners, dates, items) | Wikidata | CC0 | Allowed |
| Photos | Wikimedia Commons, per file | The licence printed under each photo (CC BY, CC BY-SA, public domain); check the file page before reuse | Per photo |
| Parcels, assessments, deeds references | County assessors and recorders (GIS layers linked on each record) | Public records; each county's terms apply; unverified here | Per county |
| Context layers | US Census (ACS, geocoder), EPA, HUD, FEMA, OpenStreetMap, Overture, SEC EDGAR | Public domain (federal) · ODbL (OpenStreetMap) · ODbL / CDLA-Permissive (Overture) | Per source |
| Esri 2014 closed-malls layer | ArcGIS Online, linked on the record | ArcGIS Online terms | undecided |
| Model-extracted fields, Atlas-written text, the schema and this site | Retrofit Atlas (Hadi Irvani) | Research use only, with attribution to the record URL | Terms to come after the academic phase |
No text from the authors' books is in the database: the curated tier comes from their public 2021 web map only (audit of the source table and the extraction prompts, 20 Oct 2026).
What 'research use only' means here
Use the data to study, teach, report and decide; cite the record URL and release (/cite/). Do not resell it, bundle it into a paid product or train a commercial model on it. If you are unsure, write to desk@retrofitatlas.org; an answer within five working days.
Planned, not in force
Paid tiers and a data licence are described on /pricing/ as planned. They switch on only after a signed agreement with the authors and with a public notice in the changelog. The footer line about the academic phase is the controlling statement until then.
Page generated with the site, release 2026-10-20. Corrections: the form or desk@retrofitatlas.org.