Urban Digital Twins for Green Mitigation
Rapid urbanisation is transforming cities globally, intensifying energy use, increasing impervious surfaces, and contributing to environmental challenges such as the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect. This study proposes an advanced framework that integrates high-resolution climate simulations by the Weather Research and Forecasting (WRF) model, into an Urban Digital Twin (UDT) solution to evaluate and compare urban development scenarios. The aim is to enhance UDTs as dynamic decision-support tools for mitigating environmental impacts and promoting sustainable, green urban development. Sofia, Bulgaria, a rapidly growing capital, serves as the case study, where increased population density, reduced green spaces, and rising energy consumption exacerbate UHI intensity, degrade air quality, and pose public health risks.
The research simulates three urban scenarios: (1) the current urban configuration during Sofia’s hottest recorded year, (2) a densification scenario where built-up surfaces replace green areas, and (3) a green infrastructure scenario involving the implementation of a central "green ring" and expansion of urban parks.