Integration of Digital Twin Technologies in Urban Regeneration of a Small Historic Town in Europe

Digital twin technologies integrate data, models, and physical entities. The paper explores technologies applied in the Urban Digital Twin (UDT) to support Urban regeneration (UR), with a case study of the small historic town of Draguć in Istria, Croatia, Europe. The subject of this research is to investigate and develop a digital twin model and to assess its usefulness in multidisciplinary applications for urban regeneration. The particularity of this scientific project lies in the application of multiple tools for 3D urban data collection and the modeling of this spatial information for its presentation and use, all aimed at spatial planning and sustainable urban development. The applied methods address a common challenge in projects aimed at establishing UDT. These methods encompass the integration of various technologies and tools (geodetic surveying, UAV photogrammetry, 3D laser scanning) for urban data collection, complemented by additional datasets from multiple sources. The results present an established UDT platform (environment) built upon the analyzed datasets relevant to urban regeneration. The urban matrix is displayed, together with buildings and their characteristics, cadastral data with ownership structure are analyzed, and a 3D city model has been generated. The proposed Urban Digital Twin model for the study area aims to facilitate, accelerate, and optimize urban regeneration, while also initiating integrated sustainable regeneration efforts for small historic towns.