Towards an intelligent Geospatial Digital Twin

Urban Digital Twins have been criticized for their reductive modeling of social processes and lack of contextual embedding. In response, the proposed unified Geospatial Digital Twin (GDT) framework not only combines diverse modeling techniques into a standardized environment, the cyber focus that enables technical interoperability but, critically, contextualizes these geospatial data within local social and physical realities, the social focus of the GDT. Specifically, the GDT integrates computational modeling with participatory processes through four continuums: abstracting , twinning , experiencing , and gaming . This modular architecture allows implementations to emphasize dimensions according to project-specific needs. We demonstrate GDTs’ flexibility through a neighborhood-scale application named Campustwin and a city-scale application named JaxTwin . By integrating cyber-focused technical capabilities with social-focused contextual understanding, GDTs bridge computational modeling with place-based social realities, offering opportunities to address environmental challenges and advance human-centered decision-making for resilient urban futures.