"This (Smart) Town Ain't Big Enough": Smart Small Towns and Digital Twins for Sustainable Urban and Regional Development

TL;DR

This paper explores how digital twins can support sustainable development in small towns and regions by modeling socio-technical interactions to inform policy decisions.

Contribution

It introduces a framework combining complexity theory and computational social science to model small towns as smart, sustainable systems.

Findings

Developed a model for small towns using digital twins

Identified key stakeholders and components in smart regional development

Provided a roadmap for implementing smart solutions in small urban and non-urban areas

Abstract

One of the major challenges today lies in the creation of governance concepts for regional development that not only promote growth but, at the same time, ensure promotion of inclusiveness, fairness, and resilience. Digital twins can support policymakers in developing smart, sustainable solutions for cities and regions and, therefore, urban and non-urban environments. The project SCiNDTiLA (Smart Cities aNd Digital Twins in Lower Austria) aims to define the state-of-the-art in the field of smart cities, identify interdependencies, critical components and stakeholders, and provide a roadmap for smart cities with application to both smaller-scale urban and non-urban environments. SCiNDTiLA uses the foundations of complexity theory and computational social science methods to model Austrian towns and regions as smart cities/regions and thus as systems of socio-technical interaction to guide policy decision-making toward sustainable development.