Towards digital twinning for multi-domain simulation workflows in urban design: a case study in Gothenburg

Journal article, 2024

This work proposes an automated workflow using digital twinning for multi-domain environmental performance analysis of urban developments. Digital twins can potentially provide a common basis for multi-domain simulations and help overcome data availability and interoperability issues. The proposed workflow consists of five steps: (1) creating a procedural urban 3D model, (2) generating design alternatives parametrically, (3) exporting the context and each design alternative to each simulation tool, (4) running simulations for wind comfort, energy demand, and noise for each design alternative, and (5) combining and visualizing the simulation results using the digital twin. The workflow was applied to a neighbourhood in Sweden, the resultsreveal significant reduction in manual work when applying multiple simulation software for different domains. This is one step forward in streamlining the workflow for urban analysis, crucial for multi-domain optimization. In the future, further domains and simulation tools can be added to the workflow.