Virtual tours of all the major urban renewal areas in Dublin, accompanied by detailed maps and colour photographs, are now being offered on the Internet.
An interactive website, The Reflecting City: Reconstructing Dublin, and an accompanying CD-ROM, will give Dubliners a unique insight into the development of the city, according to the Lord Mayor, Cllr Dermot Lacey.
He was speaking last night at the launch of this multimedia initiative, which has been jointly funded by Dublin City Council, the Dublin Docklands Development Authority, the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland and the Arts Council.
Cllr Lacey said the new website (www.reflectingcity.com) and CD-ROM would give all citizens with an interest in the development of the city, as well as college and school students, access to up-to-date information on all urban regeneration schemes in Dublin.
"The fundamental principle driving this project is that good urban planning, design and architecture transform cities and impact on people's lives in a truly positive way," he said, adding that this needed an integrated vision as well as a more informed public.
The Dublin city manager, Mr John Fitzgerald, said the project offered a virtual journey down the historic spine of Dublin city, the River Liffey, from the gateway to the city at Heuston Station to the huge renewal programme of the Docklands area to the east.
The project was produced by a Dublin media company, Blue Bloc Ltd.
