Developing Human-Centered Urban Digital Twins for Community Infrastructure Resilience: A Research Agenda

Area of Science:

• Urban Planning and Design
• Environmental Science
• Computer Science

Background:

• Urban digital twins (UDTs) offer potential for transformative urban development via landscape architecture and planning.
• The influence of UDTs on community resilience and adaptation strategies remains largely unexplored.
• Existing research lacks a comprehensive understanding of UDTs' role in enhancing urban infrastructure resilience.

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct a scoping review of current Urban Digital Twin (UDT) construction studies.
• To identify key challenges and opportunities presented by UDT technologies for community adaptation planning.
• To develop a conceptual framework for leveraging UDTs to bolster community infrastructure resilience.

Main Methods:

• Scoping literature review of UDT construction and application studies.
• Analysis of identified challenges and opportunities for adaptation planning.
• Conceptual framework development integrating multi-agent systems, AI, and coupled natural-physical-social systems.

Main Results:

• A review of existing UDT studies provides a baseline understanding of current capabilities.
• Significant challenges and opportunities exist for UDTs in supporting community adaptation.
• A conceptual framework is proposed for human-centered UDTs focused on infrastructure resilience.

Conclusions:

• Integrating multi-agent interactions, AI, and coupled systems is crucial for effective UDTs.
• A human-centered UDT framework is essential for improving community infrastructure resilience.
• Further research is needed to fully realize the potential of UDTs in urban adaptation planning.