Bimal Kumar

Unifying the Field of Digital Twins for Urban Management presents a holistic and integrated approach to the rapidly evolving field of digital twins for urban management. The framework offers a structured approach that encompasses both theoretical underpinnings and practical applications. It aims to provide a foundation to support enhanced decision-making, optimised resource utilisation, and improved urban resilience and sustainability. The book aims to address a lack of consistency, coherence and uniformity within current approaches, and offers a unified framework to facilitate collaboration and knowledge exchange across diverse areas, such as urban management, systems thinking, data science and social science. Key features include a systematic framework (DATUM) to unify the field of digital twins for urban managementcoverage of theoretical foundations and a step-by-step methodology to guide digital twin-based interventionsa standardised language to facilitate classification, documentation and communication of digital twin use casesvalidation of the DATUM framework through a combination of focus group research, case studies and action research, ensuring applicability and effectiveness. Unifying the Field of Digital Twins for Urban Management is designed for a wide audience, including digital twin practitioners, researchers, urban managers and policy makers interested in harnessing the potential of digital twins to improve urban environments.

This book brings together cutting-edge exploratory research findings to show how a vision for sustainable communities can be enabled by digital transformation. It attempts to apply existing knowledge about digital transformation and sustainable communities and compare, interpret, diagnose, and evaluate a variety of digital solutions to ascertain their suitability for the delivery of a more sustainable built environment. Chapters examine a breadth of issues including how digital transformations could:Provide digital/physical working/living environments that anticipate emerging lifestylesBlend digital engagements into the physical engagements within the built environmentSupport business and social activity in physical and online venuesUse advanced information and community-oriented technologies for efficient management of urban servicesPromote sustainabilityExpress narratives that celebrate the experience of place and communityLeverage transformation of educational systemsFoster linkages between universities, and between universities and businessesFacilitate working relationships among small and large companiesFoster new processes and arrangements for innovation in the built environmentBy comparing the key principles of digital transformation with those of sustainable communities, the contributors seek to justify or discount the applicability of digital change for achieving more sustainable communities. The research presented in this book is essential reading for architecture, urban planning, quantity surveying, building surveying, real estate, and construction management professionals and academics.

This book presents a unique view of the key issues for adopting BIM in construction projects from a pragmatic perspective. It provides an overview of the core ideas and issues distilled from various guidance documents and by dealing with the more mundane practical issues, facilitates an understanding of the more complex and important issues of processes, standards and protocols that need to be in place for the successful adoption of BIM in construction projects. In so doing, it provides reader-friendly guidance to enable the engineer or student to fully understand the implications of the process and to facilitate the application of the principles and techniques in real scenarios. The author presents a balanced approach combining sufficient background theory and practical ideas to ensure the book is applicable and relevant to practising engineers, architects, contractors and client organisations. It will serve as a key introduction for students. The appendices provide practical advice and material for BIM projects, dealing with issues such as compliance, project implementation plans and learning outcomes. Although much of the topic emanates from the UK, it is equally applicable in any country where best practice is desired.