Cities aren't rocket engines: the maturity of digital twins in human-centred urban planning

Digital twins; human-centred; urban modelling; urban planning; Automated control; Automated optimization; Computational modelling; Conceptual structures; Critical perspectives; Data driven; Human-centered; Optimization and control; Real values; Urban modeling; Software; Computer Science Applications; Earth and Planetary Sciences (all)

Abstract :

[en] In this article we provide a critical perspective on the role of urban digital twins in human-centred urban planning. We discuss the underlying philosophical views of these two concepts and argue that urban digital twins can only have real value if we facilitate a dialogue between those views. This means that we should move beyond purely technological approaches focused on automated optimization and control. Rather than as an objective source of truth, urban digital twins should be treated as a lens through which we can explore urban issues, while acknowledging the assumptions and oversights of computational models. We propose a revised conceptual structure of a mature urban digital twin, in which active human involvement is an asset rather than a limitation, and define seven additional characteristics of maturity besides being technologically advanced: adaptive, constructive, diverse, honest, humble, responsible, and transparent. Ultimately, we call for a shift from ‘data-driven’ to ‘data-informed’ urban planning, arguing that the true value of digital technologies lies not in replacing human agency, but in supporting it.

Disciplines :

Civil engineering
Special economic topics (health, labor, transportation...)

Author, co-author :

van der Meer, Lucas ; Department of Geoinformatics, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

Esterle, Lukas ; Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark ; Centre for Digitalisation, Big Data and Data Analytics (DIGIT), Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark

Cools, Mario ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département ArGEnCo > Transports et mobilité ; Faculty of Business Economics, Hasselt University, Hasselt, Belgium

Loidl, Martin ; Department of Geoinformatics, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

Language :

English

Title :

Cities aren't rocket engines: the maturity of digital twins in human-centred urban planning

Publication date :

2026

Journal title :

International Journal of Digital Earth

ISSN :

1753-8947

eISSN :

1753-8955

Publisher :

Taylor and Francis Ltd.

Volume :

Issue :

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17538947.2026.2630452

Funders :

F.R.S.-FNRS - Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique
IFD - Innovation Fund Denmark
FFG - Österreichische Forschungsförderungsgesellschaft

Funding text :

This work was supported through the Driving Urban Transitions (DUT) partnership by \u00D6sterreichische Forschungsf\u00F6rderungsgesellschaft (FFG) under Grant FO999905451; Innovation Fund Denmark under Grant 3114-00005B; and Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS) under Grant R.8005.23. The authors thank all partners in the CITWIN project for participating in various discussions about our perspective. A special thanks goes to Lorena Abad for her feedback and unconditional support. This paper is published in her loving memory. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Available on ORBi :

since 06 July 2026

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