Loading WKT polygons into QGIS

Question

I have downloaded a file showing the status of the National Broadband Network. The CSV file contains a field "Development Shape", which contains

"POLYGON ((153.101112401 -27.797998206, 153.097860177 -27.807122487, 153.097715464 -27.8163131, 153.100598081 -27.821068293, 153.103789404 -27.825046709, 153.106078824 -27.830224804, 153.108248251 -27.836106915, 153.110692137 -27.837863953, 153.116288014 -27.840655525, 153.119923205 -27.844817942, 153.122317372 -27.853523235, 153.127785181 -27.851776938, 153.131234286 -27.851150309, 153.135634115 -27.849740655, 153.138235543 -27.848667877, 153.141702556 -27.847075291, 153.152204703 -27.844959644, 153.15548911 -27.843380913, 153.158613317 -27.841545667, 153.161936609 -27.84058971, 153.156360679 -27.838491612, 153.15709719 -27.834509947, 153.150360063 -27.83270459, 153.151126372 -27.827536316, 153.151689864 -27.822563851, 153.14849171 -27.820801492, 153.148374771 -27.817968784, 153.139018666 -27.81580407, 153.139814105 -27.808556369, 153.126485712 -27.805759965, 153.124678962 -27.803584281, 153.120764096 -27.80295276, 153.121396647 -27.797353389, 153.100468927 -27.793620173, 153.09982846 -27.793327332, 153.101112401 -27.797998206))".

This is just for one entry. Is it possible to map this in QGIS?

Answer 1

Go to Layer -> Add Layer -> Add Delimited Text Layer. You should be able to find the csv file you have, give it a layer name, and choose file format as CSV.

In the Geometry Definition, you will have to use Well known Text (WKT) by ticking that box. Set the Geometry field to the column you want, and you might want to set the Geometry type as Polygon.

See below:

For speed, you might want to tick the 'Use spatial index' box as well. Good luck :)

Answer 2

If you add a header line with "wkt;" you can drag the file directly into QGIS canvas:

wkt;
POLYGON((...))

Instead of the semicolon you can also use a colon (,) or a tab.