Land use planning is one of the most important policy instruments for urban and regional development aiming to meet the needs of the populations while considering various factors such as environmental sustainability, economic development, and social well-being. The process of land use planning relies on working with geospatial data from diff erent sources and often, these data are diffi cult to fi nd, manage, and process together. Hence, this technical note aims to argue that opening up relevant data in open and standardized formats can lead to better decisions regarding land use planning while reducing the cost and complexity of the entire process.This note has been primarily written for the Self-Governing Region of Košice (KSK) in the Slovak Republic, which has requested assistance in preparing its next land use plan and is considering how to improve the procurement process. It is part of the European Commission’s Catching-up Regions Initiative (CuRI) and was written by a World Bank team providing technical assistance in the area of geographic information systems (GIS).The broader objective of the note is to provide practical examples and recommendations on land use planning and data management that could be considered by any Self- Governing Region in the Slovak Republic or any other local or national government.