The Camp Nou Stadium as a Testbed for City Physiology: A Modular Framework for Urban Digital Twins

Irene Meta,Carlos García Calatrava,Alex Gil Julian,Germán Navarro,José C Carrasco-Jiménez,Quim Làzaro,Eduardo Graells-Garrido,Patricio Reyes,David García,Imanol Eguskiza Martínez,Carla Diví-Cuesta,Feliu Serra-Burriel,Fernando M Cucchietti,Diego Navarro-Mateu

doi:10.1155/2021/9731180

Abstract

In this paper, the Camp Nou stadium is used as a testbed for City Physiology, a theoretical framework for urban digital twins. With this case study, the modularity and adaptability of the framework, originally intended for city-scale simulations, are tested on a large facility venue. As a proof of concept, several statistical techniques and an agent-based simulation platform are coupled to simulate a crowd in the stadium, and a process of four steps is followed to build the case study. Both the conceptual (interdomain) and technical (domain specific) layers of the digital twin are defined and connected in a nonlinear process so that they represent the complexity of the object to be simulated. The result obtained is a strategy to build a digital twin from the domain point of view, paving the way for more complex, more ambitious simulators.

Highlights

In urban studies, the concept of coupled simulations [1] is common but is considered for resolving specific problems at a niche level. ese are usually technical problems, e.g., performance issues. e coupling problem has already been studied widely from a software approach, whereas this paper is focused on studying which domains are involved in the coupling process from a conceptual approach.Since countless services and activities are condensed within a city, several of its aspects belong to different disciplines, without explicitly referring to the city domain [2]
City Physiology, a “framework for holistic city simulations” [3], is proposed as a basis. e framework defines systems or layers, which are made of elementary units interacting in such a way that complex behavior can emerge, and interactions that are “a data exchange between different systems
City Physiology in Practice e cornerstone of the structure is the City Physiology framework, which defines “six infrastructure layers that enable flows from/to and within a city (Communication Network, Water Cycle, Energy Cycle, Matter Cycle, Mobility Network, and Nature), the Built Domain, Society, and Environment” [3]. is structure is based on the theoretical city model of the City Anatomy developed by the City Protocol Society (CPS) [19,20,21], and it is inspired by how physiology studies the way the systems of a body work, and how they are interrelated to each other [3]

Summary

Introduction

The concept of coupled simulations [1] is common but is considered for resolving specific problems at a niche level. ese are usually technical problems, e.g., performance issues. e coupling problem has already been studied widely from a software approach, whereas this paper is focused on studying which domains are involved in the coupling process from a conceptual approach. The digital twin of Vienna [14] is focused on geometry and its different levels of detail In other examples, such as Herrenberg [15, 16], Stuttgart [17], and Helsinki [18], the digital twin is used for the prediction of scenarios but is focused on specific domains of the city (e.g., traffic and air pollution simulations to test their urban planning impact), hindering the study of complex city dynamics. E second step (Section 2.2) consists of defining both the conceptual and technical layers of the digital twin, and understanding how to connect them so that they represent the complexity of the object to be simulated. City Physiology in Practice e cornerstone of the structure is the City Physiology framework, which defines “six infrastructure layers that enable flows from/to and within a city (Communication Network, Water Cycle, Energy Cycle, Matter Cycle, Mobility Network, and Nature), the Built Domain, Society, and Environment” [3]. is structure is based on the theoretical city model of the City Anatomy developed by the City Protocol Society (CPS) [19,20,21], and it is inspired by how physiology studies the way the systems of a body work, and how they are interrelated to each other [3]

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