A Review of Urban Digital Twins Integration, Challenges, and Future Directions in Smart City Development

Silvia Mazzetto ()
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Silvia Mazzetto: SALab Sustainable Architecture Lab, Department of Architecture, Prince Sultan University, Riyadh 11586, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 19, 1-33

Abstract: This review paper explores Urban Digital Twins (UDTs) and their crucial role in developing smarter cities, focusing on making urban areas more sustainable and well-planned. The methodology adopted an extensive literature review across multiple academic databases related to UDTs in smart cities, sustainability, and urban environments, conducted by a bibliometric analysis using VOSviewer to identify key research trends and qualitative analysis through thematic categorization. This paper shows how UDTs can significantly change how cities are managed and planned by examining examples from cities like Singapore and Dubai. This study points out the main hurdles like gathering data, connecting systems, handling vast amounts of information, and making different technologies work together. It also sheds light on what is missing in current research, such as the need for solid rules for using UDTs effectively, better cooperation between various city systems, and a deeper look into how UDTs affect society. To address research gaps, this study highlights the necessity of interdisciplinary collaboration. It also calls for establishing comprehensive models, universal standards, and comparative studies among traditional and UDT methods. Finally, it encourages industry, policymakers, and academics to join forces in realizing sustainable, smart cities.

Keywords: environmental sustainability; artificial intelligence; smart cities; sustainable urban planning; data integration; edge computing; multidisciplinary collaboration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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