Liverpool 3D model nears reality

Liverpool City Council is close to selecting a design team to produce a 3D computer generated model of the city as a planning and development tool.

The move hopes to replicate the success of the model of East Manchester by engineering consultants Arup, first produced seven years and updated regularly. Arup won a Royal Town Planning Institute Award in 2007 for the model, commissioned by urban regeneration company, New East Manchester and funded by the North West Development Agency.

The new Liverpool model would allow people to virtually fly, walk, drive through and circle the streets and buildings of the given area.

Arup and Liverpool-based studio Evolve are understood to be working together in one of the three shortlisted teams bidding for the contract.

The model is likely to be controlled by Liverpool Vision, with the intellectual property remaining with the council.