In urban planning, the most expensive mistake is the one that becomes apparent only after a building has been erected, a road laid, or a new residential complex commissioned. Problems such as worsening congestion around a new development, insufficient capacity in schools and kindergartens, excessive strain on water and electricity networks, and the shrinking of green areas are costly to remedy after the fact. “Digital twin” technology, by contrast, makes it possible to test such decisions in a virtual environment before construction begins.
In Seoul, the capital of South Korea, the Virtual Seoul — S-Map platform combines buildings, roads, and other spatial data within a three-dimensional digital model of the city. This makes it possible to assess in advance the likely impact of new construction, traffic movement, or changes in infrastructure. In other words, the city is not built first and then examined for problems — the decision is tested in a digital environment first.
For Uzbekistan, the point is not to copy this experience verbatim but to adapt it to local urban planning traditions. Here, the urban environment consists of more than buildings. Quality of life in a city is shaped by mahallas (traditional neighborhood communities) and courtyards, public squares, convenient pedestrian walkways, shaded streets, green areas, and the proximity of social facilities to residents. A national “digital twin” should therefore be not merely a 3D map but an analytical platform that also takes the mahalla environment and human needs into account.
For example, if a new housing area of 5,000 apartments is planned, the platform can model in advance how much traffic flow will increase, how many schools and kindergartens will be required, whether the water, sewerage, and electricity networks can bear the additional load, and how the buildings will affect wind direction and green areas. This allows decision-makers to compare several options and select the least costly solution that is most convenient for residents.
There is no need to build such a system entirely from scratch. Uzbekistan has already begun converting master plans and urban planning documents into electronic form and digitizing cadastral and geographic information data. At the next stage, these data can be linked within a single system to information on roads, public transportation, engineering and utility networks, schools and hospitals, green areas, and planned construction. It would be advisable to begin implementation as a pilot in a single district or in a major reconstruction area. If new construction projects are assessed through the digital model as early as the permitting stage and the pilot project produces effective results, the system can then be extended to other cities step by step.
A “digital twin” does not take the place of national urban planning traditions. On the contrary, it expands the ability to preserve the existing urban environment, take mahalla interests into account, and plan modern infrastructure effectively. Its principal value lies not in creating an attractive virtual city but in seeing the cost of a wrong decision before the first brick is laid. In this way, the cities of Uzbekistan will become sustainable, people-friendly living environments that are thoroughly tested in a virtual setting and only then built.
Sources: Seoul Metropolitan Government — Virtual Seoul (S-Map); World Bank — Smart City Solutions; materials of the Ministry of Digital Technologies of the Republic of Uzbekistan.
Alisher Azizov Sustainable Development Center — Chief Specialist