Smart city urban planning and management pose significant challenges. A city is much more than just buildings and street intersections. It is a dynamic and intricate system composed of numerous elements and interactions. WEIVI is developing scientific computing-based deep tech digital twin technology that enables the prediction and modelling of various city functions, or even an entire city. WEIVI’s predictive digital twin technology offers the opportunity to assess the impact of different decisions on the city and to create sustainable and optimal solutions for the benefit of its residents.
The Nature of the Urban Ecosystem: Openness, Complexity, and Dynamism
A city is not isolated from the world; it is part of a broader environment. The surrounding world affects the city, and vice versa. Thus, the city is an open system that continuously responds to external changes.
A city is a complex entity, comprising people, infrastructure, nature, intricate structures, organisations, systems, and their interrelations, constraints, and interactions.
A city is a dynamic system, unlikely to remain in equilibrium. The city undergoes constant changes. The population grows, economic conditions fluctuate, and environmental factors influence the city. This complexity challenges urban planning, as maintaining equilibrium is difficult. In theory, the consequences of these changes could be calculated if there were a functional mathematical model for the city.
Challenges in Smart City Urban Planning
There is no urban planning handbook, blueprint, or ready-made data for building smart cities. The development of digital awareness is a new process that requires various stakeholders to form a unified understanding.Currently, AI technology enables data visualisation through digital twins. These visualisations illustrate past events and how different phenomena coexist. However, their predictive capabilities are limited. For example, consider the “Heartbeats of Manhattan” video, which visualises human flow patterns based on days of the week and times of day.
Information Systems in City Management
WEIVI’s digital twin technology integrates various information systems and opens up new perspectives for utilising data in urban planning. However, diverse data sources from numerous established and emerging systems and parties need to be coordinated simultaneously. The lack of uniform standards for data, interfaces, performance models, or their implementation poses an additional challenge.
Several systems and data from multiple sources must be coordinated, which is a challenging puzzle in itself. Information systems related to city descriptions include GIS (Geographic Information System) for managing and analysing spatial data, BIM (Building Information Model) as a digital model in the construction industry, and CDE (Common Data Environment), especially crucial for large construction and infrastructure projects. WEIVI’s digital twin technology enables efficient utilisation of data from various sources in intelligent urban planning and management.
WEIVI’s Predictive Digital Twin Technology as a Solution
WEIVI’s deep tech predictive digital twin technology allows the depiction, simulation, and optimisation of dynamic phenomena, significantly simplifying intelligent urban planning and management. The city’s digital twin reflects its real state and seamlessly integrates with existing city information systems like GIS and BIM. This enables more efficient collection, analysis, and presentation of spatial data. WEIVI´s digital twin technology can help predict the consequences of different decisions for the city and provide valuable information to support decision-making.
Digital twin technology opens up new possibilities for urban planning and management. It enables cities to be smarter and better prepared for future challenges. WEIVI is actively developing pioneering predictive digital twin technology for municipal needs. In the future, city leaders can use the technology like a real-life SimCity game, testing the impact of their decisions in a virtual city prior implementation.
Questions of Interest to City Decision-Makers Include:
- What kind of public transportation system should be built to serve residents most efficiently?
- How should zoning be developed, taking into account the needs of different resident profiles and the impact on the city’s vitality?
- What kind of school network should be established to accommodate changes in resident profiles in residential areas?
- How to manage public services in order to increase the overall well-being of city residents in a sustainable and optimal way, both now and in the future?
The Urban Planning Future Belongs to Smart Cities
A city is a complex and dynamic ecosystem, composed of many elements and interactions. Urban planning and management present challenges, but WEIVI’s predictive digital twin technology provides solutions. The technology integrates various data systems, enabling intelligent urban planning and management. It also offers the opportunity to assess the impact of different decisions on the city and to create sustainable and optimal solutions for the well-being of its residents. WEIVI’s digital twin technology opens up new possibilities for utilising data in urban planning, making cities smarter and more efficient than ever before.
Alia Dannenberg
CEO