lHi everyone, I would like to start a discussion on FLIP-XXX: GEOGRAPHY type in Flink SQL and Table API [1].
Flink currently has no first-class geospatial type. Users working with geographic data are forced into unsatisfying workarounds — encoding geometries as raw strings, storing binary blobs, or pulling in external libraries with no SQL-level integration. None of these options are ergonomic, interoperable, or type-safe. We propose introducing a native GEOGRAPHY type to Flink SQL and the Table API, bringing first-class geospatial support to streaming and batch pipelines. The key changes are: 1. New GEOGRAPHY Type - A dedicated logical type representing geospatial values (points, lines, polygons, etc.) following the WKT/WKB standard, with proper serialization and catalog integration. 2. Built-in Geospatial Functions - A set of SQL functions (e.g. ST_Distance, ST_Contains, ST_AsText) enabling spatial predicates and transformations directly in SQL queries. 3. Connector & Format Support - Pluggable encoding support so connectors can read and write GEOGRAPHY values in standard formats (WKT, WKB, GeoJSON). Looking forward to your feedback! Best regards, David Chaava [1] https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rpOTETT_Ui3TlEGioUr2NKJ1p1dlxjJQudXHndxBpO0/edit?usp=sharing
