City Planning and Urban Digital Twins

Digital technologies now make it possible to create comprehensive models of towns and cities called digital twins. Using 3D scanners, sensors for measuring air quality, machine learning algorithms, virtual and augmented reality and other tools, scientists at HLRS are pioneering methods for creating increasingly robust, integrative models of urban spaces that can be reproduced in virtual reality environments such as the CAVE.

Urban digital twins can make it easier to understand how cities work in all of their complexity, evaluate the potential effects of new buildings or other interventions in public space, and facilitate participatory planning processes among city planners, government officials, and citizens living in specific communities.

Ein Wissenschaftler im CAVE schaut Visualisierung der Neckarlandschaft an.

Digital twin for landscape management along the Neckar

In partnership with the district of Ludwigsburg, HLRS simulates cliffs and terraces on the banks of the river to help conservation and planning efforts.

Two scientists observe a room-sized, projected visualization of the University of Stuttgart campus.

Supporting energy transformation in local communities

As a participant in the Stuttgart Research Initiative “Discursive Transformation of Energy Systems“ (DiTEnS), HLRS will use digital twins to improve the processes needed to make urban energy systems climate neutral.

Safer cities for cyclists and pedestrians

In the project Cape Reviso, HLRS created a "living lab" to investigate traffic patterns at a busy city square and to virtually test interventions to reduce stress and conflicts.

Picture of people looking at visualization of digital twin city

Using digital twins to design more sustainable cities

In the Reallabor Stadt:quartiere 4.0 Project, HLRS used supercomputing and visualization to support participatory city planning in the nearby city of Herrenberg.

Visualizing future mobility

As a participant in the University of Stuttgart's MOBILAB project, HLRS is using virtual reality to help develop plans to create a zero-emissions campus.