Brisbane City Council has developed a new 3D visualisation and planning tool called Virtual Brisbane.

The fully interactive computer-generated 3D model of Brisbane aims to enhance some of the business processes with council and spans an area of more than 100 sq km, contains models for more than 100,000 structures and is the largest 3D city model in the southern hemisphere.

The 3D city model was built by AAM utilising aerial laser data and pictometry multi-angle oblique imagery.

The tool will help council planners analyse proposed developments by viewing real-time still or animated images from any angle, at any time of the  day, month or year. It will also enable the council to show residents the potential impacts of planning decisions.

Virtual Brisbane will shortly become available to the public through web hosting, so residents can log on and navigate through the model and look at suburbs undergoing neighbourhood planning schemes. The service should be up and running by the end of 2010.

AAM has produced a number of 3D models of capital cities in Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, including Melbourne, Sydney, Hobart, Wellington and Cape Town. These models are proving to be valuable tools to councils for a variety of planning and development requirements.