Across the globe, digital twins are reshaping how cities plan, build, and manage their infrastructure—from the scale of individual buildings to entire metropolitan regions. This session explores how cutting-edge digital twin projects are enabling smarter, more sustainable, and more inclusive urban systems.
Speakers will share real-world implementations from Zurich to Florence, demonstrating both proprietary and open-source approaches to modeling complex urban environments. Attendees will see how ArcGIS-based digital twins are improving accessibility, sustainability, and flood resilience in Zurich, and how open standards such as 3D Tiles, glTF, and OGC APIs are empowering flexible, scalable city models across Europe. The session will also take a global perspective on adoption trends, comparing mature digital twin programs worldwide to the slower uptake seen in North America—and exploring what it will take to accelerate progress.
Together, these presentations highlight the growing ecosystem of technologies, standards, and strategies driving the next generation of intelligent, data-driven cities.
The following presentations will be shared in this session:
Shaping Smart Infrastructure: Real-World Digital Twins with ETH and the Canton of Zurich
Presented by Stephanie Dockstader, Esri
This presentation showcases how ArcGIS-based digital twins support inclusive, sustainable infrastructure—developed in close collaboration with ETH Zurich and the Canton of Zurich. Starting at building scale, we present a digital twin of Zurich’s main train station. As part of ETH’s renowned “Barrier-free ETH” initiative, indoor wayfinding is made accessible for wheelchair users and students through ArcGIS Indoors, integrating stair/elevator options and real-time routing.
At city scale, 3D simulations explore heat island mitigation and tree-planting strategies across Zurich. The session concludes with a digital twin of the Sihl relief tunnel, designed to divert peak river flows into Lake Zurich. The model illustrates its passive, gravity-based operation and critical role in flood protection—helping to prevent damages exceeding seven billion Swiss francs in Zurich’s city center. The presentation bridges building-level accessibility and citywide resilience, showing how digital twins enable practical applications from climate planning to inclusive mobility.
Building Urban Digital Twins with Open Source Technologies: Lessons from the Trenches
Presented by Simone Giannecchini, GeoSolutions USA, Inc.
As cities adopt digital twins to model infrastructure, mobility, and sustainability systems, open-source technologies are proving essential for building scalable, vendor-neutral platforms. Drawing on recent real-world implementations—including the City of Florence, Italy —this session explores the architecture and deployment of browser-based urban digital twins using open standards like 3D Tiles, glTF, and OGC APIs. We will walk through integration strategies for heterogeneous data sources, including point clouds, and terrain models, and share lessons learned from combining 2D/3D mapping, simulation tools, and real-time analytics into cohesive digital environments. Emphasis will be placed on interoperability, performance optimization, and front-end user experience design using modern web technologies.
Attendees will leave with a practical understanding of how to architect modular and extensible digital twin platforms using open-source tools—empowering smarter, more resilient urban systems without proprietary constraints.
City Models and Digital Twins- Global Progress and Adoption… What About North America?
Presented by Layton Hobbs, Leica Geosystems
City modeling, mesh products, and digital twins are now mature products in many parts of the world, with the realized promise of better managing infrastructure, places, and property in 3D. Yet, somehow, the United States and Canada have seen slower adoption compared to their G10 counterparts in Europe and Asia. For this presentation, we will look at examples of successful digital twin programs across major cities around the world and examine what might be contributing to the slower uptake of these solutions in the major cities of the US and Canada, and what might be needed to inspire more adoption.
