Earthquake Inspires Locals to Model Town

We think this story is pretty touching.  Last week, the residents of two towns in New Zealand spent a day learning how to use Google SketchUp.  Wondering why this is so interesting?  The workshops taught the volunteers from Dunedin and Christchurch how to create 3-D models of their towns based on photographs currently displayed in Google Earth.

The workshop, led by local architect Jason Mill, was inspired by the recent earthquake that hit Christchurch.  The models developed in the workshop will allow locals to remember what their town once looked like, as many of the historical buildings were lost in the natural disaster.  The community is busy deciding what should go in their place.

Dunedin wasn’t affected by the earthquake, but the town has a lot of heritage and historical buildings.  So they jumped on the bandwagon and learned how to create 3-D models of their town as well.  Because the earthquake happened so close to home for many of the residents, there was a new urgency to create a historical record of these buildings.

The guys over at Google support workshops like those in New Zealand because historic preservation and city planning are an essential part of our world.  Such models also allow local businesses to be represented on the 3-D model, which enables virtual tourists to take note of them.  Exploring a place virtually can be the first step in actually taking a trip there!

So, has your town been modeled yet? Do you know of anyone working on it?

Source – google-latlong.blogspot.com