Urban Apps: 13 Interactive City Maps, Tools & Guides

Urban Exploration – Abandoned

Urban Apps Abandoned 1

Urban Apps Abandoned 2

If you’re not of the belief that finding abandoned places yourself is half the fun, an app will make urban exploration almost too easy for you. The ‘Abandoned’ iPhone app relies on  user input to locate abandoned sites, map them, and add photos and stories. Don’t want to share your finds? Set your map to private, so only you can see where your favorite local sites are.

Turn Your City into a Gameboard – MapAttack!

Urban Apps MapAttack

Inspired by a real-life version of Pac-Man called Pacmanhattan, the MapAttack app turns any neighborhood or park into a virtual gameboard for four to twenty players, encouraging you to explore your city in a new way. Two teams are pitted against each other with the goal of capturing the most digital points on the gameboard, with players using their smartphones as maps. The players have to physically reach each colored dot on the map to score points.

Find a Spot – Park Me

Urban Apps Parking Urban Apps ParkMe 1

Scoring a parking spot can be one of the most frustrating aspects of traveling by car in a congested city, especially for visitors unfamiliar with the area. ParkMe is an app that lets you find parking options before you even leave the house, listing availability and fees as well as maps and directions to guide you there.

Get Out of a Jam – Beat The Traffic

Urban Apps Beat the Traffic

Locate traffic jams on your travel route and find a way around them with Beat the Traffic, a free app that will show you real-time traffic conditions, estimate travel times and offer live camera views. For a fee, you can save your most-used routes and get personalized traffic reports.