Digital twin applications for smart and connected cities

A virtual representation of a physical object, system, process, or service can be defined as a Digital Twin (DT). DT technologies offer the capability of providing organizations with media to monitor the activities, relations, co-actions, and outcomes of alternative decisions in the real system via the virtual duplicate of the system. Cities are complex systems that include subsystems that should be continuously controlled and supplied with effective solutions. These are public transportation, communication, waste management, energy management, and public healthcare. A DT provides numerous solution advantages by providing various applications connected to the underlying technologies. It helps to improve the capabilities related to all these assets or services by integrating them with the management processes and improved policies in a city. Internet of Things (IoT) is an effective capability that provides the interaction between all the components in the smart city via DT technologies. This chapter explains how DT technologies are applied to smart cities in different city functions that are affected by the economic advantage, costs of implementation, and the integration of these functions with information systems capabilities. Accordingly, alternative technological methods and ideas are being examined to improve citizens' lives by optimizing the use of limited resources.