Digital Twin Technologies in Smart Cities: Applications and Challenges

Dear Colleagues,

We extend our invitation to you for a remarkable opportunity to contribute to a Special Issue that delves into the cutting-edge landscape of smart cities. The dynamic fusion of innovative IT technologies with urban environments continues to captivate the imagination, making the exploration of this domain crucial. One particularly compelling trend within this realm is the concept of digital twins, which presents unique prospects for situational awareness and predictive capabilities—attributes of immense value in the context of smart cities.

In essence, a local digital twin is a virtual replication of a smart city that faithfully emulates its appearance and behavior. The integration of local digital twins holds tremendous promise in addressing the multifaceted challenges prevalent in modern smart cities. These challenges span a spectrum from efficient mobility management and minimizing environmental footprints to anticipating long-term urban evolution, managing crises, and assessing the impacts of tactical decisions.

However, given the vast scale and intricate nature of smart cities, the creation and operation of local digital twins are endeavors that pose significant challenges. Our objective with this Special Issue is to delve into the heart of these challenges, fostering a deeper understanding of the intricacies surrounding the design and construction of local digital twins in the realm of smart cities.

We invite researchers, scholars, and practitioners to contribute their expertise and insights to this subject. Potential topics of interest for this Special Issue include, but are by no means limited to, the following:

• Applications showcasing the transformative potential of local digital twins in the context of smart cities.
• Innovative approaches to the design, development, and establishment of local digital twins within the smart city domain.
• Explorations into the connection between digital twins and the real-world entities they represent.
• Identification and analysis of gaps in data modeling, standardization and protocols pertinent to digital twins within the smart city landscape.
• Coordination schemes for managing diverse digital twins operating in tandem.
• Gleaned experiences and perspectives of stakeholders who have engaged with digital twins within the smart city domain.
• Urban-centric use cases that show the impact of local digital twins on urban planning and management.
• Evaluation and integration of key technologies and tools that underpin the construction of local digital twins, encompassing BIM (Building Information Modeling), GIS (Geographic Information Systems), simulation engines, and beyond.

We are excited to receive ideas about local digital twins and smart cities. By working together, we want to understand the challenges better, suggest new solutions, and explore new topics in this growing field.

Dr. Felix Jesus Villanueva
Guest Editor

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• smart city
• digital twins