Planning and building control

VU.CITY - A 3D model for planning

VU.CITY Liverpool is an interactive digital 3D model of the city. It allows planning professionals to visualise proposals and assess design impact in a real-world context.

We use it to help assess planning applications, inform pre-application discussions and support future planning and development across the city.

If you are a developer, we strongly encourage you to provide a 3D model optimised for VU.CITY as part of your submission for: 

  • pre-application discussions
  • major development applications
  • schemes in the city centre
  • proposals affecting key views or conservation areas

Benefits

Engaging with the model early in the design process helps ensure proposals are well-informed, context sensitive and aligned with planning expectations. VU.CITY:

  • improves the quality of planning submissions
  • speeds up decision-making
  • early identification of design issues
  • supports policy compliance checks

View the VU.CITY Liverpool coverage map

VU.CITY is managed and maintained independently of the council. Whilst you are not obliged to use this service, the integration of large-scale proposals into the model may assist in the decision-making process. Read more about VU.CITY Liverpool

If you have any issues when submitting your model, please contact support@vu.city in the first instance, or digital.planning@liverpool.gov.uk