Beyond the code: How AI is shaping urban planning
Hexagon’s AI-enabled digital twin technology at work in Klagenfurt, Austria.
Nestled in southern Austria in the foothills of the Alps is Klagenfurt. The capital city of Carinthia, Klagenfurt is located 235 kilometres from Vienna, close to the borders of Slovenia and Italy. While Klagenfurt is the sixth-largest city in Austria, it is one of the European Union’s “100 climate-neutral and smart cities.”
We travelled to Klagenfurt to see how Hexagon’s AI-enabled digital twin technology is helping city planners deliver real-world urban planning and sustainable outcomes.
Beyond the Code is a branded series presented by Partnership on AI (PAI) and produced by BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions. It explores AI’s impact on our daily lives. Through stories focused on the people doing great work, this series brings together the AI innovation powering doctors who are advancing pancreatic cancer detection, the entrepreneurs in Nepal aiming to make technology education accessible, the innovators building tools to predict floods in communities at risk, and the pioneers creating digital copies of cities from aerial footage to support new sustainable initiatives.
Featured in Hexagon’s film as a part of the Beyond The Code series, Klagenfurt, a historic city located on the eastern bank of Lake Wörthersee in Austria, is leveraging AI-powered digital twin technology to address urban planning with sustainable outcomes. This innovative approach enables the city to make smarter, data-driven decisions that not only improve urban planning but also help meet their goal of climate neutrality by 2030.
How to build an urban digital twin
An urban digital twin is a precise digital representation of a city that uses dynamic data to simulate, analyse, monitor and optimise urban planning and development.
"With the increased focus and importance on sustainable city development, a digital twin can support planning decisions because you have facts at hand. You let data do its work. By adding artificial intelligence, we actually make sure that the true value that sits within the data gets extracted and put to use.”
Johannes Maunz, Vice President of AI, Hexagon
The first step in building an urban digital twin is capturing data from the real world. Advanced sensors gather detailed information from multiple perspectives, combining:
- Aerial data captured from sensors mounted on small planes.
- Ground-level data collected via sensors mounted to tripods, cars, and handheld devices.
- This comprehensive approach ensures a complete 3D picture of the urban landscape. The gathered data is then processed and analysed – AI is crucial in this step.
This AI-driven analysis helps city officials not only visualise the current state of the urban environment but also simulate future developments and measure their impact on sustainability.
For example, Klagenfurt’s digital twin has successfully evaluated the solar potential of every roof in the city, providing invaluable insights that enable planners to identify areas where solar energy can be maximised. In just two years, the number of solar panels on roofs and open spaces throughout the city has increased by more than 100%. This is just one of the ways the digital twin is helping the city on its way to becoming climate-neutral by 2030.
33% faster solar panel uptake compared to other Austrian cities
Precise measurement of the city’s 41% natural greenery and shade canopy
Urban planning with the goal to become climate neutral by 2030
Preserving history, planning for the future
Klagenfurt’s digital twin is not just a tool for modern urban planning; it also plays a critical role in preserving the city’s historical architecture.
This ability to predict the effects of city planning decisions helps Klagenfurt maintain its high quality of life while advancing its sustainability efforts.
Beyond preservation, the digital twin is central to ensuring Klagenfurt remains a highly liveable city with green spaces, lakes, and rivers. For example, the digital twin has significantly aided urban greening efforts – expanding the city’s tree canopy by the size of approximately 60 football fields.
"We use the new [digital twin] technology not just on new building projects but also for the historical part of Klagenfurt – to provide the basis for the protection of monuments or for the preservation of these buildings. We gather data, we make simulations, and know in advance, for example, what a certain measure will achieve.”
Günter Koren, Head of Surveying and Geoinformation, City of Klagenfurt
Explore Klagenfurt's digital twin
A blueprint for global cities
Klagenfurt’s pioneering work is already attracting international attention. As one of only 33 cities awarded the prestigious EU Mission Label for climate-neutral and smart cities, Klagenfurt is setting a standard that cities worldwide are eager to follow. "We’re looking forward to enabling larger cities across the globe with even more data sources because you can see the outcomes, real-world results on a daily basis," says Johannes Maunz.
By leveraging AI and digital twins, Klagenfurt is not only reshaping its future but also providing a blueprint for cities worldwide to follow.
