Bristol City Council

INDUSTRY

Local government & public sector

CHALLENGE

Bristol needed a way to communicate the scale of its development plans, spanning housing, jobs, and transport, to residents and press, without losing people in slides and statistics.

RESULTS

Bristol used VU.CITY to build a flythrough of the city's development plans, taking viewers through projects including the Temple Quarter regeneration, a new university enterprise campus, and new mass transit routes, and put it in front of the public as part of a major civic address.

Turning a city's development plans into a story residents can see

Bristol used VU.CITY to bring its regeneration, housing, and transport plans to life for the public, rather than leaving them buried in reports and statistics.

The challenge

Councils sit on years of investment plans: new neighbourhoods, transport links, jobs, homes. Getting residents, press, and investors to understand the scale and shape of that work is hard. Reports and statistics rarely land. People need to see a place before they believe in it.

How Bristol used VU.CITY

Bristol built a flythrough of the city's development plans in VU.CITY and used it to open one of its highest-profile public moments: a major civic address to residents and press.

The flythrough takes viewers through the developments shaping Bristol's future, among them:

Temple Quarter and St Philips Marsh

Becoming a thriving area to live, work, study, and visit, anchored by the transformation of Temple Meads into a world-class transport hub.

University enterprise campus

An innovation district expected to bring 22,000 new jobs and a £1.6 billion boost to the city's annual economy.

Western Harbour

A vibrant new neighbourhood with retail, high-quality open space, and links to the water.

Hengrove Park

1,400 new homes alongside new office space and a primary school.

South Bristol regeneration

Five brownfield sites earmarked for 15,000 homes and improved open space.

New mass transit lines

Connecting the north and east of the city with reliable, low-carbon travel.

Seeing these projects modelled in place, rather than described on a slide, lets residents and press understand the scale and shape of a city's plans in a way text alone cannot manage.

The outcome

"I am delighted that we've secured a digital platform to help citizens visualise the ambitious plans we, and developers, have for Bristol. These exciting tools make for better quality engagement and a richer conversation about our vision for a more sustainable, inclusive city."

Marvin Rees Then Mayor of Bristol

Bristol's experience shows what happens when a council puts VU.CITY in front of the public, not just planning committees. The same model that supports day-to-day development decisions works just as well for:

Communications teams: press-ready imagery and fly-throughs for media, the web, and public consultation
Economy teams: telling a city's growth story with compelling visuals, using data on footfall, vacancies, and spend to make the case for investment

One platform, one model, doing the planning job and the public-facing job at the same time.

See how VU.CITY could tell your city's story

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