Leipzig to become a Digital Model City: innovative Installation of an Urban Data Platform in Leipzig
26.03.2021
On the 9th of September 2020 three cities, Munich, Hamburg and Leipzig celebrated great news: they received funding from the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building Home Affairs of Germany (Bundesministeriums des Innern, für Bau und Heimat, BMI).
Under the title “Connected Urban Twins – Urban Data Platforms and Digital Twins for an Integrated Urban Development” (short: CUT) the three cities strive to develop urban data platforms and digital twins across cities. The project models shall then be connected and serve as prototypes, which can be implemented in other German cities as well.
The urban society of Leipzig consisting of science, ventures, administration, and civil society will be involved and engaged through networks and innovative systems of public participation. The collective work towards the same goal with Munich and Hamburg will enable an ongoing exchange about specific concerns and improve the testing phase of multifaceted and innovative solutions.
Digital twins consist of digital copies of tangible objects (buildings, streets, water bodies) and intangible objects (administrative processes, public participation, traffic control). A digital twin is a dynamic, virtual and interactive 3D- city model, which integrates sensor data. Both experts and civil society can use it to make quicker, better and sophisticated decisions in their daily life.
The development of an urban data platform as well as an urban twin in Leipzig will enable a consistent and standardised data set for the whole city. Based on already existing infrastructures and experiences of the cities, the urban data platforms and digital twins will be developed and improved as a technological core, to achieve the goals and requirements of the local urban development.
Use cases for urban data platforms are linked to urban challenges such as mobility, air quality management or land-use management.
There is great potential for optimisation in the digitalisation of transport planning with regard to traffic flow, increasing efficiency in public transport or the use of renewable energies. The EfficienCE project and the use of sensor data from public transport also play an important role here. Here, sensor data from trams on energy consumption or braking and acceleration energy are brought into connection with road space design. In the future, this should optimise traffic planning.
Author of the article: Sebastian Graetz
Background photo: City of Leipzig
