TwinCity: An Urban Digital Twin Framework for Data-Scarce Environments—A Case Study of Benguerir, Morocco

Abstract

Urban Digital Twins (UDTs) are emerging as a new paradigm in smart city strategies, enabling real-time interaction with urban environments and supporting data-driven decision-making. By expanding beyond traditional smart functions, UDTs facilitate the analysis and simulation of urban resilience and sustainability indicators within a virtual city ecosystem, addressing both immediate urban challenges and long-term planning goals. This paper introduces TwinCity, a city-scale Urban Digital Twin framework developed and validated through a case study of the Green City of Benguerir, Morocco. The framework incorporates a technical architecture based on semantic 3D city models, data integration, and simulation scenarios to analyse the solar energy potential of the rooftop, the energy consumption of the building and the morphological indicators. A user-friendly web interface was developed to visualise and interact with the UDT, ensuring its accessibility. By bridging the gap between technical challenges (such as data scarcity) and practical applications, this work offers a replicable model for cities in the Global South.