ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the role of the urban-scale digital twins in how we conceive and design urban spaces. The urban-scale digital twins are virtual replicas of cities. Within the current context of data-driven societies, they are often used to test scenarios related to sustainable environmental design. The role of urban scale digital twins in urban planning, the important point is from the technical point of view to the perspective of social technology.. The debates on smart cities often focus on technical issues, neglecting the social aspects of urban planning. At the core of the chapter is the idea that in order to combine environmental equity and social equity, it is pivotal to bring together the social and the technical viewpoints of urban planning. This can become possible through the adoption of socio-technical perspectives. Many cases of urban planning decision-making that include the use of urban-scale digital twins are based on a rhetoric that promotes participatory design methods. However, the dependence of the urban-scale digital twins on a limited set of variables and processes makes it difficult to take decisions in a way that takes into account social aspects and non-quantitative aspects concerning urban planning. Urban-scale digital twins are based on the abstraction of sets of variables and processes. At the centre of the chapter is the exploration of how urban-scale digital twins can promote sustainable development goals.
