Belgium first | Lost places | AI-assisted scouting

Urbex Scanner

UrbexScanner scans satellite and historical imagery to find places that may be abandoned, then human reviewers decide what deserves careful field research.

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How it works

From a large map to a careful field shortlist

  1. 1
    Scan

    AI reviews large areas of satellite and historical imagery for signs of inactivity or decay.

  2. 2
    Human review

    Explorers inspect the strongest candidates and separate meaningful evidence from noise.

  3. 3
    Field research

    Selected places are researched responsibly, with sensitive locations kept private.

Live research progress

Current coverage by country

Aggregate processing totals show how the Belgium and France research queues are progressing. Sensitive locations remain private.

Belgium Active

Locations
261,593
Areas indexed
Queued
164,403
Waiting for analysis
Urbex
408
Potential candidates
Annotated
3,037
Human reviewed

France Planned

Locations
0
Areas indexed
Queued
0
Waiting for analysis
Urbex
0
Potential candidates
Annotated
0
Human reviewed

Research and fieldwork

Urbex explorers applying forensic research before entering the field.

We are urbex explorers first: drawn to forgotten buildings, quiet industrial sites, and places where traces of previous lives are still visible. After years of following rumors, half-clues, and outdated coordinates, we decided to treat scouting as forensic research instead of guesswork.

Urbex Scanner turns each possible location into a small case file. We compare current satellite imagery with historical tiles, study topology and access patterns, inspect vegetation changes, and use near-infrared signals to spot places that may be abandoned, overgrown, or structurally different from their surroundings.

AI helps us sift through large areas in Belgium and France, but it does not replace field judgment. The system proposes candidates, then human reviewers look for context: old roads, industrial scars, roof decay, hidden courtyards, and signs that a location deserves deeper investigation.

The purpose is not to publish coordinates or turn lost places into trophies. The purpose is to build a careful urbex team, prepare explorations responsibly, and document the atmosphere of forgotten locations while keeping sensitive details private.

Satellite imagery, historical tiles, and human review

How Urbex Scanner finds possible abandoned places without publishing locations.

The public site explains the research method. The private dashboard contains the sensitive coordinates, candidate images, map rows, and reviewer decisions.

Current and historical imagery

Recent satellite and orthophoto mosaics are compared with historical map tiles to spot changed, inactive, or disappearing structures.

Vegetation and near-infrared signals

Overgrowth, roof vegetation, tree cover, and near-infrared patterns help surface places that may have lost regular maintenance.

Topology and access context

Minor roads, blocked tracks, rail edges, water access, industrial scars, courtyards, and field boundaries are reviewed as context.

Visible site condition

Reviewers look for roof decay, collapsed sections, empty yards, deteriorated parking, old infrastructure, and low visible activity.

Belgium and France coverage

The project is Belgium first, with France as a secondary research area for urbex scouting, lost places, and abandoned-site discovery.

Responsible AI triage

AI ranks broad candidates. Human reviewers decide what deserves research, what is noise, and what must stay private.

What the research is looking for

These photographs show the atmosphere and types of locations UrbexScanner helps explorers research. They are not public location listings.

Urbex forensics team

Photograph the trace, not the route.

Let the building and objects carry the story.

Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photographs. Respect the location by not damaging, moving, or removing anything.