This richly illustrated book examines the full potential of Digital Twins (DT’s) as a means of creating more sustainable urban habitats. It reveals how, in this digitally-enabled age, DT’s are increasingly being adopted by cities as a tool for urban governance, with the hope of increasing operational efficiencies and enhancing citizens’ lives. While the study and implementation of DT’s has been critically explored as virtual, dynamic 3D replicas of physical entities across different disciplines and industries, this book establishes a strategy that recognises the need for the ‘software’ behind virtual DT platforms to not only represent the ‘hardware’ of our physical cities but also to reflect the ‘heartware’ of socio-economic and cultural practices. Knowledge gaps and challenges in existing DT’s are identified and insights into rethinking their purpose are provided to propose a new DT paradigm model for city-wide application. With multiple case studies illustrating the different concepts of DT’s being applied in cities from Europe, North America, The Middle East, Asia and Oceania, the book highlights the reasons why and how DT’s can play an integral role in the sustainability of our urban habitats. Beautifully designed and illustrated in full colour throughout, this book combines academic theory with practical application and will be a useful reference for professionals, students, academics and policymakers, working in the fields of smart cities, sustainable urbanism, and the digitisation, digitalisation and digital transformation of the built environment industry.

This richly illustrated book examines the full potential of Digital Twins (DT’s) as a means of creating more sustainable urban habitats. It reveals how, in this digitally-enabled age, DT’s are increasingly being adopted by cities as a tool for urban governance, with the hope of increasing operational efficiencies and enhancing citizens’ lives. While the study and implementation of DT’s has been critically explored as virtual, dynamic 3D replicas of physical entities across different disciplines and industries, this book establishes a strategy that recognises the need for the ‘software’ behind virtual DT platforms to not only represent the ‘hardware’ of our physical cities but also to reflect the ‘heartware’ of socio-economic and cultural practices. Knowledge gaps and challenges in existing DT’s are identified and insights into rethinking their purpose are provided to propose a new DT paradigm model for city-wide application. With multiple case studies illustrating the different concepts of DT’s being applied in cities from Europe, North America, The Middle East, Asia and Oceania, the book highlights the reasons why and how DT’s can play an integral role in the sustainability of our urban habitats. Beautifully designed and illustrated in full colour throughout, this book combines academic theory with practical application and will be a useful reference for professionals, students, academics and policymakers, working in the fields of smart cities, sustainable urbanism, and the digitisation, digitalisation and digital transformation of the built environment industry.

Population increases, advances in technology and the continued trend towards inner-city migration have transformed the traditional city of spaces into the modern city of objects. This has necessitated alternative spatial and technological solutions to replenish those environments that were once so intrinsic to society's day-to-day interactions and communal activities. This book considers skycourts and skygardens as 'alternative social spaces' that form part of a broader multi-level urban infrastructure - seeking to make good the loss of open space within the built environment. Jason Pomeroy begins the discussion with the decline of the public realm, and how the semi-public realm has been incorporated into a spatial hierarchy that supports the primary figurative spaces on the ground or, in their absence, creates them in the sky. He then considers skycourts and skygardens in terms of the social, cultural, economic, environmental, technological and spatial benefits that they provide to the urban habitat. Pomeroy concludes by advocating a new hybrid that can harness the social characteristics of the public domain, but be placed within buildings as an alternative communal space for the 21st century. Using graphics and full colour images throughout, the author explores 40 current and forthcoming skycourt and skygarden projects from around the world, including the Shard (London), Marina Bay Sands (Singapore), the Shanghai Tower (China) and the Lotte Tower (South Korea).

Culture refers to not only the arts but also other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. It similarly refers to the customs, institutions, and achievements of a social group, a people, or a nation. Innovation refers to the action or process of change, alteration, or revolution; a new method of idea creation or product that may bring about change. It is easy to assume that innovation may be juxtaposed to the preservation of culture and time-tested rituals. Yet as human settlements grew; and as streets and squares evolved through the diverse exchanges of people trading, celebrating, rallying and socially interacting, it should come as little surprise that cities and its places would become, and continue to be, centres of culture and innovation that can be inextricably linked. Culture and Innovation in cities can potentially take on different complexions if viewed through the lens of academics and practitioners drawn from different geographies, disciplines, or fields of expertise when addressing particular urban challenges. It is through this complexity of views that this book seeks to provide a broad perspective on culture and innovation in the context of global cities today; and a rich cornucopia of insights from thought leaders within their respective fields to shape the cities of tomorrow.

Culture refers to not only the arts but also other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively. It similarly refers to the customs, institutions, and achievements of a social group, a people, or a nation. Innovation refers to the action or process of change, alteration, or revolution; a new method of idea creation or product that may bring about change. It is easy to assume that innovation may be juxtaposed to the preservation of culture and time-tested rituals. Yet as human settlements grew; and as streets and squares evolved through the diverse exchanges of people trading, celebrating, rallying and socially interacting, it should come as little surprise that cities and its places would become, and continue to be, centres of culture and innovation that can be inextricably linked. Culture and Innovation in cities can potentially take on different complexions if viewed through the lens of academics and practitioners drawn from different geographies, disciplines, or fields of expertise when addressing particular urban challenges. It is through this complexity of views that this book seeks to provide a broad perspective on culture and innovation in the context of global cities today; and a rich cornucopia of insights from thought leaders within their respective fields to shape the cities of tomorrow.

Population increases, advances in technology and the continued trend towards inner-city migration have transformed the traditional city of spaces into the modern city of objects. This has necessitated alternative spatial and technological solutions to replenish those environments that were once so intrinsic to society's day-to-day interactions and communal activities. This book considers skycourts and skygardens as 'alternative social spaces' that form part of a broader multi-level urban infrastructure - seeking to make good the loss of open space within the built environment. Jason Pomeroy begins the discussion with the decline of the public realm, and how the semi-public realm has been incorporated into a spatial hierarchy that supports the primary figurative spaces on the ground or, in their absence, creates them in the sky. He then considers skycourts and skygardens in terms of the social, cultural, economic, environmental, technological and spatial benefits that they provide to the urban habitat. Pomeroy concludes by advocating a new hybrid that can harness the social characteristics of the public domain, but be placed within buildings as an alternative communal space for the 21st century. Using graphics and full colour images throughout, the author explores 40 current and forthcoming skycourt and skygarden projects from around the world, including the Shard (London), Marina Bay Sands (Singapore), the Shanghai Tower (China) and the Lotte Tower (South Korea).