Singapore – Virtual cities can help city officials and urban planners predict patterns and forecast the future. These insights can then be used to manage real world data, processes and people to create efficient and sustainable cities.
The urban population is set to rise to an estimated 66 per
cent of the world’s population by 2050. The challenge of
urbanization is further compounded by globalization, the Internet
of Things, climate change, and a growing demand for high-tech
solutions, putting city officials and urban planners under immense
pressure to start looking at the barriers to successful
urbanization today.
One way to overcome this challenge is to build a virtual city
or digital twin.
“The 3D model allows users to see and understand the scale of
a city, layout of its buildings, streets, squares and
neighbourhoods. It also allows the user to see its energy, water,
traffic, healthcare, education, communication and other
infrastructure systems,” writes Alexander Parilusyan, vice
president of Worldwide Smart Cities at the French multinational
software firm Dassault Systèmes.
“It’s like looking into a crystal ball and seeing how the
actions of a city’s residents can affect the future of a
city.”
Singapore is currently using Dassault Systèmes’s software
3DEXPERIENCECity to build a 3D model of the city. The software uses
images and data collected from various public agencies, including
geometric, geospatial and topology, as well as real-time data such
as demographics, movement or climate. The goal is to create rich
visual models and realistic large-scale simulations of Singapore to
digitally explore the impact of urbanization and develop solutions
that optimize all aspects of the city. Virtual Singapore is
expected to be completed by 2018.
“By virtualizing our cities, we have the ability to create an
efficient, sustainable and highly capable reality,” explains
Parilusyan.