A £36,000 computer- generated 3D map of Leicester is to be created.
Officials are to commission the interactive virtual re-creation of a large expanse of the city to help them visualise major planning developments before they are built.
The project has been sanctioned by city mayor Sir Peter Soulsby and will also include a £3,000 promotional video for his multi-million pound Connecting Leicester revamp.
The map will span the area from Belgrave to Riverside Park, near Aylestone, in the south and from Narborough Road North and the Great Central Way in the west to St George's Way in the east.
It will initially contain limited information on buildings, though details of key structures can be added.
Proposed new buildings and roads can be added in to show how they would appear in the context of the surrounding area.
It will be used to create promotional fly-through videos of the city's street scene.
Sir Peter said the map could be used to advertise the city to potential developers.
He said: "They are a wonderful market tool for showing people around the city without having to take them out on a freezing February morning.
"It (£36,000) is a lot of money but we are talking about projects that are potentially worth millions of pounds of investment to the city."
It will be funded from a grant from the European Regional Development Fund.
It is hoped the map could be completed by the end of the year.
It will not initially be open for viewing by the public, although fly-through videos created from it will be reproduced for public consultations.
Other towns and cities in the region which already have 3D virtual maps include Northampton and Birmingham.
A city council spokesman said: "It is essential that we have the right tools to compete with other cities on an international stage.
"This proposal is in its very early stages but, once developed, the map would allow us to produce fly-through videos relatively easily.
Leicester Civic Society chairman Stuart Bailey said: "I think it is a good idea, but it is also expensive, so it will have to be put to work and not become a pretty ornament for silly councillors to go looking at what it would be like if the town hall was removed and replaced with a skyscraper.
"De Montfort University has already created some fly-throughs of the city which have helped attract heritage funding, so they do have a value."
City centre resident John Farmer, 42, said: "It might be interesting but it sounds like a bit of a toy for the council.
"I can think of better things that could be done with 36 grand."