Utility Networks Integration into Urban Digital Twins: Smart and Sustainable City Management

The management of public service networks in cities is increasingly complex because of the numerous networks and stakeholders, the volumes of data and the interdependencies that they all involve, requiring innovative solutions in the smart city era. Therefore, the creation of Digital Twins and the integration of all available information and tools are necessary to ensure more resilient and efficient services. Currently, a challenge arises in the collection of these data and the creation of tools in a systematic way. However, the integration of underground utility networks into these city models remains limited because of the number of operators that manage the networks and the nature of these networks, which are located underground and do not usually have high-quality public cartography. In this study, we developed a scalable and replicable methodology for creating smart Digital Twins using automated flows based on standards. A key novelty lies in our automatic workflow, the streamlining of systematic data collection, and the creation of tools. This ensures scalability at the city level and replicability across diverse case studies. This methodology significantly enhances the functionality of the underground infrastructure and provides a comprehensive framework for sustainable city management. The model was validated in two case studies, Bilbao and Zaragoza (Spain), to test its efficacy. The results not only affirm its practical applicability but also offer valuable insights for informed municipal decision-making. The proposed methodology represents a step forward in the automatic creation of smart Digital Twins that can support the management of urban utility networks.