Agenda item

            The Committee considered the undernoted report:

“1.0     Purpose of Report or Summary of main Issues

1.1       To provide an update on VUCITY: the 3D model of Belfast

2.0       Recommendations

2.1       The Committee is asked to:

·        Note the roll out plans for VUCITY, the 3D model of Belfast

·        Agree that a licence agreement is entered into with VUCITY

3.0       Main report

3.1       Following approval in January 2017, Members will be aware that the Council has been working on developing a 3D model of Belfast, in partnership with VUCITY. The model will be operational from February 2018 and will cover 52 square kilometres of Belfast, (see Appendix 1 on modern.gov).

3.2       VUCITY will provide an interactive 3D view of the city and will assist with displaying and exploring:

·        emerging developments

·        planning applications / approvals

·        development potential of Council sites and other key city sites

·        promotion of Belfast as a place to invest and as tourism destination

·        citizen engagement and consultation and potential community impact and opportunities

3.3       It was initially envisaged that the model would cover the City Core, City Airport, Titanic Quarter, North Foreshore. This has been extended to cover an area of 52sq / km, most of Belfast City Council’s boundary. The model is rendered as a minimum in block detail, up to level of detail (LOD) 3. Users can view, zoom and rotate, from a whole area right down to the detail of one building.

3.4       The VuCity model of Belfast includes:

·        A fully interactive 3D model of Belfast city, extending over 52sq/km

·        An accurate city model including terrain to 15cm.

·        Street level walk mode

·        Ability to explore Belfast viewpoints in virtual reality

·        Ability to integrate protected views

·        Sunlight / shadowing simulation

·        The potential to overlay real time transport information

·        Ability to integrate other relevant council data e.g. flood risk, noise, demographics, traffic and pedestrian modelling

·        Integration of proposed projects which could inform decision making processes for planning or investment

·        Increased understanding of the development potential of sites

3.5       It is anticipated that the users of VUCITY will include: elected Members, planners, the development community, potential investors, architects, agents, community hubs, transport engineers and decision makers.

3.6       There are wide ranging uses of VUCITY within council including: data visualisation; promotional tool to market the city; and assisting with the planning decision making process. Members should note that while there is no statutory requirement for developers to use VUCITY as part of their planning application process, they will be encouraged to use it as part of the pre-application discussions.

3.7       VUCITY has presented to the Development Community in March 2017 and at the Developers’ Forum in June 2017, and previously at the Agents’ Forum and Belfast Strategic Issues Group. It has been very positively received. Given the wide-ranging uses of VUCITY, City stakeholders and partners are also being encouraged to use it.

3.8       In January 2017, Committee granted approval for officers to explore establishing an appropriate partnership with VUCITY for the development and roll out of a 3D Model of Belfast.

3.9       VUCITY has proposed a licence agreement with Belfast City Council. This would initially be for one year, with the option to extend. This is the approach other councils have taken and proved very successful.

3.10     This licence agreement is to be agreed with and by the City Solicitor. It will be a licence for 1 year, with an option to extend on an annual basis to a maximum of 3 years.

3.11     VUCITY is currently available as a software package for laptop and desktops, however a web-based platform and i-pad friendly version are currently in development and will be available in 2018. VUCITY also integrates onto interactive touch tables.

3.12     Equality and Good Relations implications

            None.

3.13     Finance and Resource Implications

            The £25,000 cost includes the licence fee, hardware requirements, staff training and data integration.”

            The Committee adopted the recommendations.