Spatial Morphology Group

The Digital Twin Cities Centre brings together knowledge from a diverse group of experts and practitioners to develop new methods, techniques and ways of thinking and working. Research, innovation and education is conducted in eight different research areas and 2 work packages, covering all aspects needed to develop large-scale digital twin technology, and to harvest the opportunities it brings in new approaches to urban planning & design, architecture and digital construction. To facilitate uptake and implementation for Sweden to spearhead the necessary digitalisation of the built environment sector, a particular focus is on knowledge transfer to industry and public actors.

Meta Berghauser Pont from SMoG leads, together with Elin Haettner from White, Research Area 1, Urban Planning and Design. The main objective is to develop user centered, interactive, Spatial Decision Support Tools to inform design and support more effective planning decisions. DTC is important in urban planning and design in three ways:

1. DTC can play an important role as data platform where besides access to a continuous updated database with the most relevant data, especially the dynamic relation between different planning documents is challenging, e.g. comprehensive plan (or översiktsplan in Swedish) versus development plan (or detaljplan). Because the city is not a collection of parts, but a system, we have to handle both parts and whole at the same time-

2. The next level where DTC has an important role is for decision making, allowing stakeholders to do multi-criteria analysis that, in turn, contribute to more evidence-based decisions. To develop urban decision-making tool(s), besides data, also simulation to predicting effects of proposed changes and its visualisation becomes important.

3. In the process of urban development there are reasons of monitoring products and flows, which defines the third level where DTC can play an important role. Besides setting up a system of relevant sensors that bring in new types of data in the planning process, also tracking products and flows that can play an important role in turning the planning process into a more sustainable direction.