Google announces Cites in 3D

3D buildings available in Google Earth

15 July 2008 17:40 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

Google has announced its first 3D cities in its Cities in 3D program that lets local governments add a three-dimensional representation of their city to Google Earth.

The web co says there's now a virtual representation of buildings in many cities, counties, and towns across North America, ranging from the capital city of Washington, DC to the small town of McMinnville, Tennessee (pictured).

The models of these cities are available in the "3D Buildings" layer on Google Earth. To view the models, turn on the "3D Buildings" layer in Google Earth 4.3 and fly to one of the participating localities.

Google says the the 3D buildings layer on Google Earth is a "collective effort to create a 3D representation of the world and provides local governments with a platform upon which to share their data with over 350 million Google Earth users".

To find out more about the Cities in 3D program go to earth.google.com/citiesin3d.