Earth911 Podcast: Cityzenith’s Michael Jansen Uses Digital Twins to Reinvent Urban Planning

Designing the future of civilization is no small task. Our guest Michael Jansen, founder and CEO of Cityzenith, is a pioneer of digital twin technology. These emerging computer models are poised to transform how we test our assumptions about the impact of new designs and policies before making the changes in the real world, from the design of cities to airports, factories, and the energy infrastructure. If you’ve heard of the Metaverse, Cityzenith’s Urban Digital Twin 3D virtual models will sound familiar. Instead of providing an escapist fantasy world where avatars can dance and play games, digital twins offer a metaverse where data scientists and architects can test how the real world will respond to low-carbon strategies. Among other projects, Michael and his team have created digital twins of Las Vegas, Phoenix, and a new capital city in an Indian province.

According to ABI Research, the use of digital twins in urban planning is expected to deliver $280 billion in savings globally by 2030. Ernst & Young also projects that over the same time, modeling technology can reduce urban carbon emissions by more than 50%, and lower the cost of operating buildings by 35% while improving productivity by 20%. We will be hearing more about digital twins in the news, and it will be important to understand their limits and how computer models can be improved to yield even more insight into the future of the built environment. You can learn more about Cityzenith at cityzenith.com