An important Prague project in recent years has been the creation of a so-called digital twin city, which includes the creation of a unified model of buildings and facilities, allowing for connection with other data, such as population, traffic and mobility, microclimate, energy consumption, etc. This data representation allows for a wide range of uses, from traditional assessment of planned new construction and other urban developments in the city, to environmental and traffic modeling, accessibility mapping, urban asset management, and the analysis of spatial behavior of the population through a synthetic population.
The 3D model of the built environment, compared to the elementary model of buildings, bridges and terrain, will show in detail the individual components of the street space and their characteristics, including elements of the urban furniture. The model will not only show the 3D surfaces of pavements, roadways, vegetation and others, but also more detailed descriptive data. It may also include public space facilities such as public lighting, benches, trash cans, traffic signs or advertising media. The facades of the buildings are also modeled in greater detail, where it will be possible to keep information about the facade structure (windows, entrances, etc.) and its material. Point clouds obtained by LIDAR, e.g., from mobile street mapping or aerial scanning, are an important source of data for the built environment model.
Prague currently has a semantic 3D model of the city in which individual buildings are depicted as generalized objects with additional properties. This type of model is complemented by a detailed mesh model with photorealistic textures, which, like the semantic model, covers the entire area of Prague. Its use is mainly for the advanced visualization of planned urban projects and their participation, for which it is particularly suited due to its detail and realism. This mesh model is one of the outputs of oblique aerial photography and laser scanning.
IPR Prague participates in several national and international projects that address the issue of using BIM models in urban processes. We address this topic on several levels, from the presentation of the city's development plans, through the process of their approval and implementation, to asset management. Our goal is to communicate transparently with all stakeholders what is being planned in the city, especially in the area of construction. For this purpose, we are preparing the web application Prague Tomorrow 3D, where construction plans will be presented in the context of a 3D model of the city. At the same time, we strive to facilitate cooperation between investors and IPR Prague using a unified digital image of the city and open data and formats.
The inhabitants themselves are an integral part of the city and its processes. How people move around Prague and how they spend their time there is crucial information for planning transport, amenities and other city functions. Today's advanced technologies provide ways to simulate population behavior without the need to collect data on individual people, which is neither possible nor practical.
The emerging digital twin of Prague should become primarily an environment for unifying information that will expand Prague's data base so that it is possible to use the possibilities of advanced technological solutions to better plan and operate the city. We place great emphasis on data openness and data protection. IPR Prague is currently implementing or participating in many projects focused on 3D data, and if you yourself are interested in the topic of the digital twin, or if you are simply interested in working with us, please contact us.