Abstract
Here, I provide a perspective on digital twins of cities that cover a wide array of different types, ranging from aggregate economic and behavioral processes to more disaggregate agent-based, cellular and micro-simulations. A key element in these applications is the way that we as scientists, policymakers and planners interact with real cities with respect to their understanding, prediction and design. I note a range of spatial models, from analytical simulations of local neighborhoods to large-scale systems of cities and city systems, and briefly describe computational challenges that geospatial applications in cities pose.
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Acknowledgements
The author acknowledges support from the Alan Turing Institute (QUANT2-Contract-CID-3815811) and from the UK Regions Digital Research Facility (EP/M023583/1) through the UK Research and Innovation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
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Batty, M. Digital twins in city planning. Nat Comput Sci 4, 192–199 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-024-00606-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s43588-024-00606-7