Nimbys look away now.

Here’s what Brighton would have looked like if the “Gherkin” had been built just off North Street.

The image has been created using a new computer programmecalled Skape, developed by geographic information products specialist Infoterra.

It has been designed to help people visualise how proposed developments might look and how they would affect neighbouring properties.

Buildings can be “demolished”

and replaced by new ones, which will help architects sell their visions to the public.

Brighton is one of the firstUK cities to be created in 3D and Paul Fearn, business manager at Skape, said it was chosen because of its distinctive architecture.

He said: “Skape is the perfect tool for planning consultations.

“The public can truly see what a building or development will look like, from every angle.”

Planning experts and architects agreed the programme could prove useful for future development.

Paul Burgess, a director of Hove-based planning consultancy Lewis & Co, said: “It should help to present proposals in a wider urban context and in turn make it easier for the public to understand proposals.”

Leah O’Brien is a representative of Green Sea, a collective of construction professionals who drew up proposals to turn the former gas tank close to Brighton Marina into a performance venue and transform Edward Street into a tree-lined boulevard.

She said that Skape represented the “next step” for computer design software”.

“Gone are the days of flat 2D perceptions. Today’s software provides an almost photographic quality image that developers can use to promote the ideas and aspirations they have for the city.”

For more information, visit www.skapeworld.com.