Developing a 3D City Digital Twin: Enhancing Walkability through a Green Pedestrian Network (GPN) in the City of Imola, Italy

Mansoureh Gholami (), Daniele Torreggiani, Patrizia Tassinari and Alberto Barbaresi
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Mansoureh Gholami: Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 48, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Daniele Torreggiani: Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 48, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Patrizia Tassinari: Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 48, 40127 Bologna, Italy
Alberto Barbaresi: Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin 48, 40127 Bologna, Italy

Land, 2022, vol. 11, issue 11, 1-13

Abstract: Predominantly, dense historical cities face insufficient pedestrian-level greenery in the urban spaces. The lack of greenery impacts the human thermal comfort on the walking paths, which contributes to a considerable reduction in pedestrian flow rate. This study aims at developing a model to assess pedestrian-level thermal comfort in city environments and then evaluate the feasibility of creating a green pedestrian network (GPN). Imola, as a historical city in Italy with a compact urban pattern, is selected as the case study of this paper. To accomplish this, a three-dimensional digital twin at city scale is developed for the recognition of real-time shade patterns and for designing a GPN in this city. The 3D model of the proposed digital twin is developed in the Rhinoceros platform, and the physiological equivalence temperature (PET) is simulated through EnergyPlus, Honeybee, and Ladybug components in grasshopper. This study provides the city with a digital twin that is capable of examining pedestrian-level thermal comfort for designing a GPN based on real-time PET in the compact urban morphology of Imola. The PET model indicates that during the hottest hour of the 25th of June, pedestrians in open spaces can experience 3 °C more than on narrow shaded streets. The results are validated based on in situ datasets that prove the reliability of the developed digital twin for the GPN. It provides urban planners and policy makers with a precise and useful methodology for simulating the effects of pedestrian-level urban greenery on human thermal comfort and also guarantees the functionality of policies in different urban settings.

Keywords: street-level greenery; outdoor thermal comfort; digital twin; green pedestrian network; physiological equivalence temperature (PET) (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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