Digital Twins at the City and Town Scale: Europe and Beyond

A scalable digital twin approach, integrating mobile mapping and high-resolution 3D modeling, has successfully created seamless, data-rich representations of urban heritage at risk, including UNESCO World Heritage Sites like Saltaire. This methodology, pioneered by the Visualising Heritage team at the University of Bradford, enables proactive preservation efforts by anticipating heritage loss and supporting local authority decision-making. The 'Virtual Bradford' digital twin exemplifies this approach, offering an open-data Level-of-Detail 3 (LoD3) model that encompasses conservation areas and landmark buildings, including those designed by architects Lockwood & Mawson. The research also extends to global applications, such as the colonial city of Bagamoyo in Tanzania, addressing challenges faced by developing countries through UKRI's Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). This work bridges planning, regeneration, and public engagement, fostering topophilia while embedding heritage conservation at its core.

Gaffney, C., Croucher, K., Bates, C. R., Booker, O., Dunn, R., Evans, A., Ichumbaki, E. B., Moore, J., Ogden, J., Ritchings, J., et al. (2025). Digital Twins at the City and Town Scale: Europe and Beyond. Internet Archaeology, (70). https://doi.org/10.11141/ia.70.5