IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v12y2020i6p2307-d332977.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Urban Digital Twins for Smart Cities and Citizens: The Case Study of Herrenberg, Germany

Author

Listed:
  • Fabian Dembski

    (High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS), Nobelstraße 19, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany)

  • Uwe Wössner

    (High-Performance Computing Center Stuttgart (HLRS), Nobelstraße 19, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany)

  • Mike Letzgus

    (Fraunhofer IAO, Smart Urban Environments, Nobelstraße 12, 70569 Stuttgart, Germany)

  • Michael Ruddat

    (Research Center for Interdisciplinary Risk and Innovation Studies (ZIRIUS), University of Stuttgart, Seidenstraße 36, 70174 Stuttgart, Germany)

  • Claudia Yamu

    (Faculty of Spatial Sciences, University of Groningen, Landleven 1, 9747AD Groningen, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Cities are complex systems connected to economic, ecological, and demographic conditions and change. They are also characterized by diverging perceptions and interests of citizens and stakeholders. Thus, in the arena of urban planning, we are in need of approaches that are able to cope not only with urban complexity but also allow for participatory and collaborative processes to empower citizens. This to create democratic cities. Connected to the field of smart cities and citizens, we present in this paper, the prototype of an urban digital twin for the 30,000-people town of Herrenberg in Germany. Urban digital twins are sophisticated data models allowing for collaborative processes. The herein presented prototype comprises (1) a 3D model of the built environment, (2) a street network model using the theory and method of space syntax, (3) an urban mobility simulation, (4) a wind flow simulation, and (5) a number of empirical quantitative and qualitative data using volunteered geographic information (VGI). In addition, the urban digital twin was implemented in a visualization platform for virtual reality and was presented to the general public during diverse public participatory processes, as well as in the framework of the “Morgenstadt Werkstatt” (Tomorrow’s Cities Workshop). The results of a survey indicated that this method and technology could significantly aid in participatory and collaborative processes. Further understanding of how urban digital twins support urban planners, urban designers, and the general public as a collaboration and communication tool and for decision support allows us to be more intentional when creating smart cities and sustainable cities with the help of digital twins. We conclude the paper with a discussion of the presented results and further research directions.

Suggested Citation

  • Fabian Dembski & Uwe Wössner & Mike Letzgus & Michael Ruddat & Claudia Yamu, 2020. "Urban Digital Twins for Smart Cities and Citizens: The Case Study of Herrenberg, Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(6), pages 1-17, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:6:p:2307-:d:332977
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/6/2307/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/6/2307/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jesse M. Shapiro, 2006. "Smart Cities: Quality of Life, Productivity, and the Growth Effects of Human Capital," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 88(2), pages 324-335, May.
    2. Edward Glaeser & Giacomo Ponzetto & Andrei Shleifer, 2007. "Why does democracy need education?," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 77-99, June.
    3. Caragliu, A. & Del Bo, C. & Nijkamp, P., 2009. "Smart cities in Europe," Serie Research Memoranda 0048, VU University Amsterdam, Faculty of Economics, Business Administration and Econometrics.
    4. Edward L. Glaeser & Joshua D. Gottlieb, 2006. "Urban Resurgence and the Consumer City," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 43(8), pages 1275-1299, July.
    5. Anna D’Auria & Marco Tregua & Manuel Carlos Vallejo-Martos, 2018. "Modern Conceptions of Cities as Smart and Sustainable and Their Commonalities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-18, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dorel N Manitiu & Giulio Pedrini, 2015. "Smart and sustainable cities in the European Union. An ex ante assessment of environmental, social, and cultural domains," SEEDS Working Papers 1315, SEEDS, Sustainability Environmental Economics and Dynamics Studies, revised Jul 2015.
    2. Ingrid Gould Ellen & Katherine O'Regan, 2009. "Crime and U.S. Cities: Recent Patterns and Implications," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 626(1), pages 22-38, November.
    3. Karima Kourtit & Peter Nijkamp, 2013. "Creative Buzz Districts In Smart Cities: Urban Retro-Fitting And Urban Forward-Fitting Plans," Romanian Journal of Regional Science, Romanian Regional Science Association, vol. 7(2), pages 37-57, DECEMBER.
    4. Ye Seul Choi & Up Lim, 2015. "Effects of Regional Creative Milieu on Interregional Migration of the Highly Educated in Korea: Evidence from Hierarchical Cross-Classified Linear Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(12), pages 1-18, December.
    5. Ying Zhou & Weiwei Li & Pingtao Yi & Chengju Gong, 2019. "Evaluation of City Sustainability from the Perspective of Behavioral Guidance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-17, November.
    6. Arntz, Melanie & Brüll, Eduard & Lipowski, Cäcilia, 2021. "Do preferences for urban amenities really differ by skill?," ZEW Discussion Papers 21-045, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research.
    7. Stefano CARBONI, 2021. "Smart City - A new concept of green and technological city - A survey will explain the differences between two countries with a different vision of these cities," Smart Cities and Regional Development (SCRD) Journal, Smart-EDU Hub, Faculty of Public Administration, National University of Political Studies & Public Administration, vol. 5(1), pages 53-68, February.
    8. Viktor A. Venhorst, 2017. "Human capital spillovers in Dutch cities: consumption or productivity?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 59(3), pages 793-817, November.
    9. Casey Dougal & Christopher A. Parsons & Sheridan Titman, 2014. "Urban Vibrancy and Corporate Growth," NBER Working Papers 20350, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Edward L. Glaeser & Joshua D. Gottlieb, 2008. "The Economics of Place-Making Policies," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 39(1 (Spring), pages 155-253.
    11. Annekatrin Niebuhr & Tanja Buch & Silke Hamann & Anja Rossen, 2012. "Jobs or Amenities – What determines the migration balances of cities?," ERSA conference papers ersa12p401, European Regional Science Association.
    12. J. O. Saka, 2020. "Human Capital Investment and Employment Growth in Nigeria," Theory Methodology Practice (TMP), Faculty of Economics, University of Miskolc, vol. 16(02), pages 81-88.
    13. Gagliardi, Luisa & Schlüter, Teresa, 2015. "The role of education for amenity based sorting in British cities," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 65017, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Kyunam Kim & Jung-Kyu Jung & Jae Young Choi, 2016. "Impact of the Smart City Industry on the Korean National Economy: Input-Output Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(7), pages 1-19, July.
    15. Norbert Hiller & Oliver Lerbs, 2015. "The capitalization of non-market attributes into regional housing rents and wages: evidence on German functional labor market areas," Review of Regional Research: Jahrbuch für Regionalwissenschaft, Springer;Gesellschaft für Regionalforschung (GfR), vol. 35(1), pages 49-72, February.
    16. Chauvin, Juan Pablo & Glaeser, Edward & Ma, Yueran & Tobio, Kristina, 2017. "What is different about urbanization in rich and poor countries? Cities in Brazil, China, India and the United States," Journal of Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 17-49.
    17. Kaplanis, Ioannis, 2010. "Wage effects from changes in local human capital in Britain," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 33615, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Moritz Meister & Annekatrin Niebuhr & Jan Cornelius Peters & Johannes Stiller, 2023. "Local attributes and migration balance – evidence for different age and skill groups from a machine learning approach," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(4), pages 794-825, May.
    19. Chengri Ding & Zhi Li, 2022. "City Size and Household Consumption in China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(11), pages 1-14, November.
    20. David B. Audretsch & Nikolaus Seitz & Katherine Margaret Rouch, 2018. "Tolerance and innovation: the role of institutional and social trust," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 8(1), pages 71-92, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:12:y:2020:i:6:p:2307-:d:332977. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.