Urban Digital Twin Modelling

A Digital Twin (DT) is a dynamic digital model of a real-world object, such as a city building, or real-world operation, such as an urban transport system. The term dynamic signifies that the parameters in the model are not static, but are instead updated in real-time with IoT data derived from sensors embedded in the real-world object or operation. DTs of complex cyber-physical objects such as aircraft have been used for at least 30 years, whereas Urban Digital Twins (UDT) have emerged more recently for real-time operations in cities. They are used for urban planning, infrastructure management, mobility management and energy efficiency optimization, among others. Static digital models of objects and operations have been used in engineering, operations research, medicine and many other disciplines since the advent of digital computers more than 80 years ago, while DTs are more recent but their full potential, particularly of UDT, is still evolving.

Similar to static digital models, DTs are only valuable within the context of their intended application, known as use-cases. Examples of use-cases include disaster response and emergency management, building energy management, multi-modal transport planning, and urban heat-island mitigation. In Australia UDT in the transport context have been developed by the Future Mobility Lab of University of Technology Sydney (FML UTS), an academic partner of RWC (http://www.fmlab.org/). At RWC we have initiated a research project to upskill our staff in UDT technology and explore a use-case to examine options for urban heat-island mitigation.