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Since the development of the first 2D urban geological map of Bath by William Smith in 1799, the production and representation of geological information has changed little until relatively recently. In the last 20 years, information technology and increased computing capacities have transformed the way in which geoscientists work. In particular, the development and use of geographic information systems (GISs) and modelling packages have meant that there is now a far greater opportunity to develop engineering geological products that show more effectively the third dimension in the urban environment. Because the information is captured and manipulated digitally, the outputs can be tailored to various end-user needs and more readily updated as new data become available. To illustrate these developments a brief overview of the 30 papers that were submitted to the Theme ‘Geodata for the Urban Environment’ of the 10th International Congress of the International Association for Engineering Geology and the Environment (IAEG) are presented and discussed.