The need for accurate registration of underground objects in the 3D cadastre is becoming increasingly common throughout the world. Research studies conducted in this area mostly focus on objects related to transportation or other public utilities and services. However, in settlements with a long history, apart from new objects, there are also various historical objects underground. Such places are not fully discovered, and sometimes they are not even fully inventoried with surveying methods. The aim of this work therefore is to try to describe the possibility of introducing historical undergrounds to the real estate cadastre created for three dimensions, in case of its creation, and to check ground laser scanning as a method of measuring such objects in order to introduce them to the 3D cadastre. Considerations on the inclusion of underground historical objects into the three-dimensional cadastre database began with conceptual considerations. Their result is the elaboration of UML schemas describing relationships among 3D cadastre objects including underground objects. According to the authors, such underground objects should constitute a completely new class called ‘EGB_BuildingBlockUnderground3D’ and be part of the legal space of the entire building represented by the class ‘EGB_BuildingLegalSpace3D’ (the prefix EGB is an acronym of Polish cadastre name ‘Ewidencja Gruntów i Budynków’; in English, it stands for ‘Land and Building Cadastre’). In order to verify in practice the possibility of introducing historical underground objects into the 3D cadastre database, the inventory of the Underground Tourist Route in Rzeszów (Poland) was used. This route consists of a network of underground passageways and cellars built between the 14th and 18th centuries. The measurement was carried out with the application of the Faro Focus 3D terrestrial laser scanner. The underground inventory showed that at the time the current cadastre of land and buildings in Rzeszów was being founded, the boundaries of the cadastral parcels were established without knowing the location of the underground passageways under the Main Market Square. This resulted in a situation in which the objects located underground became parts of more than one cadastral parcel. If a 3D cadastre is created, such a situation must of course be recorded accordingly. The article proposes solutions for such situations.

The paper concerns spatial planning in Poland and its connection with the cadastre. The Polish spatial planning system defines the set of colours, lines, hatches, etc. destined for the preparations of spatial plans, though this has so far not been followed by a spatial planning model or application schema. The aim of this paper is to create a preliminary concept of the unified modelling language (UML) schema of database integrating 3D cadastre and 3D spatial planning. The authors initially define five unified modelling language classes representing spatial planning objects (four representing spatial objects and one a dictionary list). As spatial planning and cadastres are very strongly connected, these classes are implemented into a cadastral model that had been earlier enriched with 3D classes. The final results of this research are UML diagrams based on the Polish cadastral model as defined earlier in legal regulations. They comprise original cadastral model classes, 3D cadastral objects added in earlier research work, classes representing spatial planning objects and the relationships among them. Such a solution better connects cadastre and spatial planning on a structural level and introduces 3D elements into spatial planning which has basically been done in two dimensions.

The UML model of a land and building cadastre is defined in current Polish legal regulations. Its main part is the UML application schema that defines relationships between the main cadastral objects in sixteen diagrams. These objects—cadastral parcels, buildings and (independent) premises—are essentially 2D objects. Their relationships with other cadastral objects are compared and analysed in this paper. The UML model is built to supplement the application scheme of the traditional cadastral model with three new objects that are the equivalents of the main cadastral objects in 3D: ‘Cadastral Parcel 3D’, ‘Building Legal Space 3D’ and ‘Premises 3D’. Although the first two have been defined in earlier publications, this paper defines ‘Premises 3D’. Objects such as ‘Building Common Part 3D’ and ‘Building Part of Non-Extracted Premises 3D’ are proposed. The relationships among new 3D cadastral objects and objects of traditional cadastre are presented in three new diagrams. The authors propose that these new diagrams are added to the current cadastral model. It could be the foundation for building a future 3D cadastral model in Poland. In the authors’ opinion, the applied methodology may also be used in various legal systems.

The main goal of the paper is to make a general assessment of the application of 3D technologies in spatial planning. It was performed with the city of Krakow as the case study. The paper describes the outline of the spatial planning system in Poland and the planning conditions of Krakow. The data obtained from laser scanning for Krakow are also briefly characterized. The possibility of using these data for locating high-rise buildings in terms of the protection of Krakow’s panorama and within two programs “IT system of the Country’s Protection Against Extreme Hazards” (ISOK) and “Integrated spatial data monitoring system for air quality improvement in Krakow” (MONIT-AIR) were analyzed in the paper. The main result of the research is the assessment of what studies or measurements may be used to meet particular spatial planning needs or requirements.