Guide / Tool

# Create a Figure-Ground Plan

Three ways to a figure-ground plan: free geodata, draw it yourself in QGIS – or download it ready-made and true-to-scale as a vector file in seconds.

[ Free geodata → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/geodaten/) [ Ready-made figure-ground plans ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/)

QGIS · OpenStreetMap · PDF · DWG · SVG

Three Ways

## Which way suits you?

Free

### Geodata & Outlines

Download free city outlines as SVG and GeoJSON and assemble your figure-ground plan yourself.

[To the geodata tool →](https://schwarzplan.eu/geodaten/)

Draw It Yourself

### QGIS & OpenStreetMap

Full control: filter building data, choose the extent, colour the figure-ground and export. Guide below.

[To the guide →](#anleitung)

Buy Ready-Made

### Instant & true-to-scale

No GIS skills needed: choose city and format, download a print-ready vector figure-ground plan instantly.

[To the shop →](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/)

Guide

## Create a Figure-Ground Plan Yourself – in 4 Steps

1. 01### Get the geodata

Download your city's building outlines as free outlines or GeoJSON – e.g. from OpenStreetMap or directly via our geodata tool.
2. 02### Extract the buildings

Open the data in QGIS and filter the built-up areas (building=\*). Crop it to the extent you want.
3. 03### Colour the figure-ground

Colour the buildings black on a white background (or inverted). This figure-ground representation is the actual figure-ground plan.
4. 04### Scale & export

Set the scale (e.g. 1:5000) and export as vector (PDF, SVG, DWG/DXF) – so the plan stays scalable without loss.

Too little time for the GIS work? Ready-made figure-ground plans are available as an instant download.

FAQ

## Frequently Asked Questions about the Figure-Ground Plan

A figure-ground plan (Schwarzplan) shows a city's built-up areas in black on a white background. It makes the urban structure – density, block edges, open spaces – legible at a glance and is a standard tool in architecture and urban planning.

Yes. Using free building data from OpenStreetMap and a GIS such as QGIS, you can create a figure-ground plan yourself. Our **geodata & outlines** are also free. If you have no time for the GIS work, download a ready-made, true-to-scale figure-ground plan as a vector file.

There are tools and scripts that automatically render figure-ground plans from OSM data. For clean, print-ready results at the right scale, however, a ready-made plan is usually worth it: at SCHWARZPLAN.eu you choose city and format and download instantly – no GIS skills required.

As a vector file – PDF, DWG, DXF, SVG and additionally PNG. Vector data stays sharp at any scale and can be edited directly in CAD, Illustrator or QGIS.

For city extents 1:5000 to 1:10000 are common, for neighbourhoods 1:2000. For a site plan for a building application, however, 1:500 usually applies – you will find details on our [site plan for the building application page](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-bauantrag/).

More in the Catalogue

- [  All Site Plans & Figure-Ground Plans  Shop → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/)
- [  Free Geodata & Outlines  Free Tool → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/geodaten/)
- [  Site Plan for the Building Application – Guide  Guide → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/lageplan-bauantrag/)

Countries & Regions

## Figure-Ground Plans by Country & Region

- [  Europe  205 plans → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/europe/)
- [  Germany  75 plans → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/europe/germany/)
- [  Free Figure Ground Plans  41 plans → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/free-figure-ground-plans/)
- [  France  17 plans → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/europe/france/)
- [  Italy  15 plans → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/europe/italy/)
- [  Bavaria  14 plans → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/europe/germany/bavaria/)
- [  Baden-Württemberg  12 plans → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/europe/germany/baden-wuerttemberg-en/)
- [  Netherlands  12 plans → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/europe/netherlands-holland/)
- [  Czech Republic  11 plans → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/europe/czech-republic/)
- [  North America  12 plans → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/north-america/)
- [  United States of America  11 plans → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/north-america/united-states/)
- [  Nordrhine-Westphalia  10 plans → ](https://schwarzplan.eu/en/site-plan-figure-ground-plan-shop/europe/germany/nordrhine-westfalia/)