MASTER Assignment
From Pilot to Practice: A Roadmap for Urban Planning Digital Twins at Dutch Mid-Sized Municipalities
Type : Master M-BIT
Period: May - October, 2025
Student : Krakers, A.M.C (Anne, Student M-BIT)
Date Final project: October 31, 2025
Supervisors:
Abstract:
Urban digital twins (UDTs) have emerged as promising tools to address the growing complexity of urban planning and management. However, their implementation in mid-sized municipalities remains fragmented, with significant challenges related to unclear definitions, limited organizational readiness, and uncertain governance structures. This research develops a structured roadmap to guide mid-sized municipalities in effectively adopting UDTs for urban planning and spatial visualization, using the municipality of Hengelo as the primary case study.
The research follows the Design Science Research Methodology by Wieringa, consisting of problem investigation, treatment design, and treatment validation. A systematic literature review and interviews with nine Dutch municipalities were conducted to identify challenges, best practices, and success factors for the adoption of UDTs. Insights from these studies, combined with stakeholder consultations within the municipality of Hengelo, informed the design of a practical, phased roadmap. The proposed roadmap consists of four phases: orientation, alignment, implementation, and embedding, and is structured around three transformation components: technologies, processes & management, and people. Each phase provides concrete actions tailored to the organizational and technical circumstances of mid-sized municipalities. The roadmap is applied to Hengelo's Hart van Zuid project, demonstrating its practical applicability.
Validation through a survey with 13 municipal experts confirmed that the roadmap is clear, feasible, and transferable to different contexts. The results emphasize the importance of governance, data quality management, and leadership commitment to ensure long-term success. Overall, this research contributes a structured and transferable approach that helps mid-sized municipalities move from experimentation to structured UDT adoption.