Do urban digital twins need agents?

Abstract

The urban digital twin (UDT) is derived from the original digital-twin concept of a representation of physical assets. This has left the social component of the city underrepresented in UDTs. Here, we discuss what this means for the current maturity stage of UDTs and why better representing human behaviour in UDTs may diversify possibilities to support different types of planning. We contemplate operationalizing the representation of human behaviour by means of agent-based models (ABMs) integrated with UDTs and illustrate this with two concrete examples of simulating stress and safety perception in public spaces. One example shows the idea of the UDT as a live data repository for ABMs, with the ABM adding dynamism, and the other of live feedback between the city, the ABM and UDT. We discuss several epistemological, conceptual, technical, and ethical challenges that may be involved in this integration. We conclude with a future agenda to promote (1) the abandonment of the vision of a UDT as the highly detailed mirror of the city, (2) UDTs fit for sectoral (strategic) in addition to operational planning, (3) the inclusion of behavioural and social processes in UDTs by incorporating ABMs, (4) a culture of cumulative research using structured guided frameworks and reusable building blocks, (5) ABMs with explicit purposes to allow fit-for-purpose selection in UDTs, and (6) explicitly addressing epistemic, normative, and moral responsibilities. Thus, though including agents may at some point be a solution for the (currently lacking) perspective on the role of humans in shaping and being shaped by the city, several reconsiderations in the UDT and ABM communities need to take place first.