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The graphical representation and interactive manipulation of accurate three dimensional (3D) models of reality is rapidly becoming an inescapable necessity for many applications of geographical information systems (GIS). There are many problems and difficulties that must be overcome in order to facilitate such 3D models. Can accurate measurements, at sufficient resolution and using affordable resources, be obtained? Will application software usefully process, in all aspects, models of the real world, held in full 3D? Can a topology of containment, adjacency and contiguity in 3D be integrated into the conventional procedural and recording functionality of two dimensional (2D) GIS and still provide workable spatial analysis tools? A 3D GIS applied to an urban environment should maintain a model that would typically consist of solid representations of individual buildings, roads and utilities, providing both external and internal detail, all assigned to a suitable digital terrain model (DTM).The particular 3D application considered here addresses the need for accurate reconstruction of historical urban buildings. The creation, manipulation and exploration of such models is often referred to as "virtual heritage". Much of this paper describes an effective methodology, called the Phoenix algorithm, requiring only a single image of an urban object, for the construction of 3D models of buildings at high resolution. The development of this algorithm is discussed and the results obtained from it are compared with those obtained using traditional 3D capture techniques. An outline of further potential GIS applications is presented.