Neunburg vorm Wald has set itself the goal of driving forward digital urban development locally. Thanks to the “TwinBy – Digital Twins for Bavaria“ funding program from the Bavarian Ministry for Digital Affairs, the Upper Palatinate town received the necessary financial and technical support to develop its own digital twin. aconium GmbH has supported the municipality over the entire duration of the project and worked with it to develop a customized virtual user interface that is geared towards the city’s individual needs.
With the help of the open source solution “Masterportal”, aconium created a digital twin for Neunburg vorm Wald. This facilitates the planning of construction projects on site, for example. Previously, planning processes were communicated laboriously in PDF formats. With the digital twin, the town can access vivid 3D planning scenarios in the web browser as a basis for urban development simulations.
For this purpose, geodata can be uploaded in various formats and visualized as layers within the platform. However, other data sources can also be integrated. Neunburg vorm Wald, for example, has integrated the planning for a new extension to an existing school as a building model in the 3D layer in order to be able to clearly simulate and transparently display the extension to the school building. Local authorities and citizens can also use the digital twin’s user interface to view land use plans, such as green spaces or undeveloped land, as well as cultural and architectural monuments.
The digital twin offers a comprehensive solution for the needs of all stakeholders. This benefits building authorities, city councils, developers and, of course, the population. This not only contributes to more efficient urban planning, but also strengthens the sense of community and trust between citizens and municipal stakeholders through transparency.
Background of the project
With a total funding volume of around one million euros, 17 projects from 13 individual municipalities and four municipal associations were supported, according to the ministry. The participating municipalities received consulting and coaching services from selected service providers for professional and technical implementation as well as funding of up to 50,000 euros for individual municipalities and up to 75,000 euros for cross-local projects. The Bavaria-wide project also promoted exchange between the municipalities so that the stakeholders can benefit from each other’s experiences. An accompanying qualification program ensures that work with and on the digital twins can continue even after the end of the project.