Nottingham is a dynamic city. Owing to its eclectic and growing student population, innovative universities and businesses, and a council striving to be at the forefront of the green agenda, the city’s skyline has been rapidly changing. But significant change to a historic city is a contentious issue. Local Democracy Reporter Joe Locker takes a look at how “cutting-edge” mapping and virtual reality technology could better shape the city’s future.
Unbeknownst to those living and working in the hustle and bustle of Nottingham below, an aeroplane kitted out with laser and camera technology spent dozens of hours throughout 2023 mapping out the entire city.
The aircraft is operated by the company Bluesky, based in Leicestershire, which has been working with Nottingham City Council on a project believed to be the first of its kind in the UK.
Using data captured by Bluesky, a digital, three-dimensional (3D) twin of the city has now been created in immense detail.
Nottingham’s tight boundaries typically prove a challenge for development, meaning the usual choice for developers is to build upwards, rather than outwards.
Many of these developments can be seen in the form of student accommodation blocks, and commercial developments such as the towering HMRC headquarters of Unity Square. Mixed feelings can result: “Not another student block?”
However, the council’s Geographic Information System Manager, Laura Pullen, says using the ground breaking new technology is now helping to revolutionise planning.
“We’ve been using 3D to really help our planners to understand the major developments that are coming into the city and be able to assess their impact on the skyline,” she said.
“The use of 3D and reality means we are able to assess major planning applications much more quickly and understand their design quality, and have conversations to improve the quality of developments coming into the city.
“The fact we can use these 3D models means we can actually share the developments that are going to happen across our skyline with residents, and really showcase the exact impact across the city and value of huge amounts of investment coming into our city.”
Called the Metrovista project, the digital twin of the city is created using a technique called ‘supermesh’ to fuse ground-level imagery, captured from vehicle-mounted cameras on city streets, with aerial data collected from Bluesky’s aircraft.
It is supported by investment from the Government’s Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DHULC) as part of a digital planning pilot.
The result is a similar product to that of Google Maps, except the city can be viewed in three dimensions at higher levels of detail and with real-world textures.
Mick Dunn, one of the council’s Business Development Specialists, demonstrated how the technology works at the authority’s Loxley House HQ.
He says different layers can be added to the 3D map to reveal flood risks, conservation boundaries and even the city’s extensive cave network.
A prototype virtual reality (VR) product has even been created, whereby goggles can be worn to allow a user to ‘place’ themselves into the 3D map and visualise, from street-level, how a development may look once built.
Ms Pullen says the project has been encouraging further investment into the city, with developers able to see exactly what their development could look like and how it may impact an area.
Not only this, but she says it is saving the council money as the entire planning process is made more efficient.
“We truly hope the reality products will help us to improve again and again on our assessment process, both on a desktop or with goggles, so our planners can really understand even more that immersive impact of a building,” she said.
“But we could also use that within consultation exercises to showcase to residents or visitors what new developments could look like, which is really exciting.”
Aerial survey and geospacial data company Bluesky has been around for just over 20 years.
Technology has been developing over that period, resulting in the very first 3D model content for the council.
Bluesky has spent around 15 to 20 hours of flight time in total to capture the entire city area using cutting-edge technology.
The technology includes vertical and oblique cameras and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR).
LiDAR uses a laser to measure distances and create 3D models of the Earth’s surface.
The aircraft’s technology was developed by Hexagon.
Hexagon’s technology is today used at CERN, the largest particle physics laboratory in the world, where the Large Hadron Collider is operated using its tools to uncover the many remaining mysteries of the universe.
Ralph Coleman, Chief Commercial Officer at Bluesky, said obtaining the data can prove “challenging” in the UK due to the weather.
The last set of data was captured last year, and none has so far been captured in the current year due to poor conditions.
However the results of the challenge are paying dividends, and will help people better relate to planning processes in the future, he says.
“Aerial surveys are not anything particularly new and people have been looking at aerial photos and things like Google Earth for many years,” he said.
“The way this differs is bringing it into the third dimension. People can relate to that a lot more.
“They are not just looking at a flat map, they are looking at something in three dimensions and the ability to visualise that in the context with other city models is key to decision-making in the council.
“There is lots of work at the moment fusing the airborne stuff, the data we capture from our planes, with data captured from vehicles on the ground.
“You get that full picture of what is there. So ideally in the future we might get planning officers having VR headsets walking around the city, and some of this has already been in testing, visualising exactly where they are, making decisions using their hands to bring in new buildings into that VR environment.”
