HKU develops toolkit for European project T4R

The idea behind Local Digital Twins (LDTs) – interactive 3D models of cities – is to visualize big data in a connected way. More and more data is being collected on all kinds of urban processes. Think of traffic flows, waste streams, or data about ambient temperature and air quality. This data is of great value for the design and management of a city.

Simulations

Amsterdam and Utrecht have already taken the lead: On 3d.amsterdam.nl and 3d.utrecht.nl – soon to be combined into netherlands3D.eu – platforms are growing where you can walk through the environment like in a video game. Not just with visuals of buildings and streets like in Google Maps, but with added layers of any desired information. These layers can be easily activated to display different types of data. Using simulations in this digital world, the impact of interventions and projects can be made visible before they are implemented in the real world. What happens, for example, when trees are planted or removed in specific locations? What is the effect of new buildings on their surroundings? What possibilities are there for urban densification – and what does that look like? The idea is that this can help address spatial planning challenges more easily, and that policymakers and citizens alike can better understand what urban space might look like in the context of major societal issues, such as climate, energy, housing, and green space in the city.

Now that LDT technology is in place, the question arises: how should it be used? What should be visible for whom in the digital twins, and how do we ensure that it is workable for different stakeholders? In the European Twin4Resilience (T4R) project, six European countries are searching for answers to these questions. HKU is part of this collaboration, led by the municipality of Utrecht. The project explores how to introduce LDTs to municipalities, companies, and citizens, and how to implement and integrate them into democratic decision-making processes. The partners involved are addressing a wide range of questions around collecting, linking, and unlocking data within LDTs.

Four frameworks

This process is divided into four so-called frameworks: technical design, governance, ethical considerations, and training and knowledge sharing. The latter – officially the “train-the-trainer framework” – is the part of the project that HKU is responsible for. HKU lecturers Willem-Jan Renger and Evert Hoogendoorn, both designers and researchers, are working closely with another project partner, the German K8, Institut für strategische Ästhetik. Together they are developing a collection of so-called “micro-learning units” to transfer all necessary knowledge for developing Digital Twins to municipal staff. Renger: “We want to provide the different parties involved in working with a digital twin with the right information to collaboratively set up and use such a platform effectively.”

Ethics and governance

“This project is about much more than just technology,” he continues. “We want to avoid introducing LDTs through a traditional technology push. The material we are developing should already support asking the right questions and making solid decisions at the initial stages. Ethics and governance should not be an afterthought. We don’t want Big Brother cities or Oppenheimer scenarios.”

Lab, Studio, Arena, Agora

In designing their methodology, they draw on the Systemic Design Toolkit by Kristel van Ael and Peter Jones, which divides the development of such a new system into four phases:

• Lab for technical development.
• Studio for design and prototyping.
• Arena for participation and testing with key stakeholders.
• Agora for engaging all interested parties.

Intermediary layer

In the eight pilot cities – including Amsterdam and Utrecht – the focus is on making the right decisions in each of these phases, through structured conversations between technologists, designers, civil servants, companies, and citizens. Renger: “We want to build an intermediary layer that enables all parties involved to relate productively to one another and to feel legitimized in asking each other critical questions.”

Ludodidactic toolkit

Naturally, this won't be a classic training with just a syllabus in a classroom. Renger and Hoogendoorn are developing materials based on ludodidactics – their own method for designing education using game principles. Renger lays out a set of cards he created for the European project CYANOTYPES. Each card represents a different role. By giving each person at the table a card and rotating them after a set time, an issue is tackled from different perspectives and role distribution becomes clear. For T4R, they are working on a similarly diverse collection of learning materials to facilitate content-driven discussions with multiple stakeholders about the design and application of an LDT.

Accelerating entry

By testing this in the pilot projects, they are designing an implementation process that other cities will be able to benefit from in the future. Renger: “If Zwolle decides to develop a digital twin in the future, the materials we’re developing should help structure that process and ensure the right considerations are made from the start. What will they include, what will they exclude, will they start in the Lab phase or in the Arena? With the materials we’re now developing on the fly in the pilots, we are working towards an integrated manual that will allow cities to jump in faster and benefit from all the knowledge and experience already gained in this project.”

Contact - Willem-Jan Renger: willem-jan.renger@hku.nl