The Emergence of Digital Twin City
Published on : Monday 01-01-2024
Digital Twin technology in Smart Cities in India can make convenient urban living spaces, and a sustainable urban ecological environment, says Madhumay.
India is one of the largest urban systems in the world. According to the data from NITI Aayog, cities in India just occupy 3% of the area; however, their contribution to the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is soaring by 60%. According to World Bank estimates, 36% of the population now lives in cities. Metropolitan cities in India have seen a large amount of population influx. This rapid growth in urbanisation results in huge challenges in meeting the housing, infrastructure, transport, and energy needs of the urban populations. It urgently requires innovative ideas and methods to solve these issues.
The definition of a ‘digital twin’, first established in 2012, has since been widely applied in industry. In 2017, the concept of a ‘digital twin city’ was first proposed by The China Academy of Information and Communication Technology (CAICT) and used in the planning and construction of smart cities. The digital twin city maps the physical city in the digital space through the construction of a virtual version of the city. Since 2019, the concept of Digital Twin City has been widely promoted and accepted across the world. Some of the cities that have accepted this model include Xiong'an, Singapore and Rennes and has achieved promising results.
Digital twin cities market
The global digital twin market is booming. According to a recent study by the World Economic Forum (WEF), it is expected to reach $48.2bn by 2026 and grow at a 58% compound annual growth rate.
Technical characteristics of digital twin city
The technical characteristics of Digital Twin City are based on operational mechanisms of Digital City.
A Digital Twin City is operated through the following steps:
1. By leveraging IoT, information modeling, and an omnipresent network, real-time data on traffic, ecological conditions, and urban functions is aggregated, facilitating seamless mapping and integration from the physical world to the virtual realm.
2. Utilising a city's operational knowledge map and advanced big data analysis techniques enables the identification of digital space issues, fostering the formulation of informed guidance for policymakers.
3. Employing IoT's remote control and interactive interface enables the virtual manipulation of a real city, facilitating a) comprehensive life-cycle management services for the physical city; b) optimisation and enhancement of urban operations; and c) fostering sustainable economic development.
The 4 technical characteristics of Digital Twin City are:
1. Accurate mapping: Accurate mapping means that the digital twin city realises comprehensive digital modeling of urban roads, bridges, manhole covers, lamp covers, buildings and other infrastructures by arranging sensors on the air, ground, underground, and river levels in the physical city, so as to fully perceive and dynamically monitor the city’s operating status, and finally form the accurate information expression and mapping of the virtual city to the physical city in the information dimension.
2. Smart real time feedback: Intelligent feedback refers to the intelligent early warning of possible adverse effects, conflicts, and potential dangers of the city through planning and design, simulation, etc., on the digital twin city, and the function of providing reasonable and feasible countermeasures.
3. Integration of reality and virtuality: Virtual-real interaction means that all kinds of ‘traces’, such as traces of people, logistics and vehicles that can be observed in the physical city, can be searched in the virtual city once they are generated.
4. Intellectual intervention: The twin cities establish a corresponding virtual model based on the physical city, and simulate the behavior of urban people, events, and objects in the virtual space by means of software platforms.
Digital Twin technology in smart cities in India can make efficient urban production, livable and convenient urban living spaces, and a sustainable urban ecological environment.
Reference
https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Digital_Twin_Cities_Framework_and_Practice_2022.pdf
Article Courtesy: NASSCOM Community – an open knowledge sharing platform for the Indian technology industry: https://community.nasscom.in/communities/digital-transformation/emergence-digital-twin-city
Madhumay is Deputy Manager – Research at Nasscom. His areas of interest include: Emerging Technology, Digital Twin, Industry 4.0 and Deeptech, among others.
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