Model showing future vision officially unveiled

The 3-D creation, ironically made in south coast rival Portsmouth, is intended to show the major developments that will shape the cityscape in coming years.

Design industry chiefs, civic leaders, dignitaries and other guests, gathered to catch a first glimpse of the £60,000 model that measures 5.5m by 4m and is at the heart of the exhibition dubbed City Vision Southampton.

It was assembled under the stairs in the City Art Gallery where it will be on public show for two years.

The exhibition also features a computer-generated flight simulator' style tour of the city.

Among the flagship developments included, visitors were given a first glimpse of a futuristic concept for Southampton Central Station, featuring a see-through domed canopy.

Council planners, who revived the concept for the new exhibition from a four-year-old study, reckon it could include 27,000 square metres of office space and 430 flats, and bring up to 1,400 jobs to the city.

Paul Grover, from the Solent Centre for Architecture and Design, which spearheaded the new exhibition, declared it would represent a "living, breathing, changing" representation of Southampton and its future.

He said it would allow architects and developers to showcase the projects that will change the face of Southampton.

The Southampton Partnership, an unelected group of business and community leaders, agreed to fund it with cash previously allocated by the South East England Development Agency to fire lasers from the Civic Centre clock tower.

Partnership chairman Ros Cassy insisted the model was "terrific" and worth every penny.

"It's a superb model that will raise the profile of the city," she told guests. "It will be an attraction for residents and visitors and will help to make people more aware of the gallery and it's wonderful collection."

She said the model needed to be seen as working "economic development tool" and said it had already attracted "significant interest".