Digital Twin for Urban Planning in the Green Deal Era: A State of the Art and Future Perspectives

Abstract

This paper provides a state of the art of contemporary Digital Twins (DTs) projects for urban planning at an international level. The contribution investigates the evolution of the DT concept and contextualises this tool within the scientific-cultural debate, highlighting the interconnection between global policies and local needs/wishes. Specifically, six case studies of DTs are compared, illustrating their application, content, technological infrastructure, and priority results. The projects presented provide an overview of the existing DT typologies, focusing on the evaluative/prefigurative use and the limits/potential of the tool in light of the socio-health, climate, and environmental crises. Reflections on DT reveal, on the one hand, its potential role in supporting decision-making and participatory processes and, on the other, the potential utopian trend of data-driven planning encouraged by public–private investments in the smart city/twin city sector. In conclusion, the study underlines the innovative role of DT as a cutting-edge scientific format in the disciplinary framework but highlights that the practical use of the tool is still in an experimental research-action phase. From this theoretical-critical review, it is possible to hypothesise new research paths to implement the realism and application potential of DTs for urban planning and urban governance.