/ FOR ARCHITECTS & URBANISTS

Any city,
as a 3D block model.

OpenStreetMap building footprints, heights, and real terrain elevation — converted into a navigable 3D model you can explore at human scale. Used for massing studies, urban morphology research, and client walkthroughs.

Generate a ModelSee Specs
A 3D block-based representation of a downtown skyline
SCALE 1 BLOCK ≈ 1 M
SRC: OPENSTREETMAP
/ USE CASES

What practitioners actually do with it

The common thread: architects reach for it when they need scale understanding fast, and traditional tools are too slow or too expensive for the ask.

Massing & context studies

Drop a proposed building into its real surroundings to understand scale, shadows, and sightlines before committing to a concept.

Urban morphology research

Compare block patterns, density, and street grids across cities — Barcelona's Eixample next to Manhattan next to Paris, all in one coherent medium.

Client presentations

Walk a client through the site in first-person at human scale. Minecraft is oddly effective at communicating what a plan drawing can't.

Studio teaching

Give first-year students a navigable 3D version of a real city to analyze — no GIS license, no CAD learning curve, no render queue.

/ TECHNICAL

Model specifications

Scale
1 block ≈ 1 m
Human-walkable
Data source
OpenStreetMap
Live OSM extract
Terrain
SRTM elevation
Real topography
Coverage
Up to 100 km²
Per generation
/ QUESTIONS

Technical Q&A

What's the data source and how accurate is it?+
OpenStreetMap. Building footprints are exact. Building heights come from OSM 'building:levels' and 'height' tags where present — coverage is excellent in most European and North American cities, sparser elsewhere. Terrain elevation uses SRTM-derived data baked into the engine.
What's the scale — is it 1:1?+
One Minecraft block ≈ one meter. A building tagged 'building:levels=5' at roughly 3m per floor will render as ~15 blocks tall. Streets are true-width. It's the closest thing to a playable 1:1 city model you'll find for $10.
Can I export to another format (OBJ, FBX, glTF)?+
Not directly today — you get a standard Minecraft world file. However, there are well-maintained open-source tools (Mineways, jmc2obj) that convert Minecraft worlds to OBJ and other mesh formats. Many users go this route for rendering in Blender or Rhino.
Coverage limits for a large metro?+
The XL tier covers 25–100 km² in a single generation, which is enough for most major city cores. For full metro coverage, users typically generate adjacent tiles and combine them.
Does it handle topography?+
Yes. Real elevation is applied to the terrain, so a site in San Francisco or Lisbon will have accurate hill relationships, not a flat plane. This is the feature most users don't expect to matter and then can't live without.

From OSM to walkable model in minutes

$2 small site, $10 full district, $15 metro. No subscription, no account required.

Generate a City

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