The Influence of Digital Twins on Policymaking and Urban Planning.A Case Study on Tygron Geodesign Platform

Abstract

Digital tools such as simulation software and digital twins are increasingly incorporated in the urban planning and policy making processes. The multitude of advantages of the implementation of these data-driven tools, however, is not problematized enough. In this thesis, I studied a digital twin used day to day within Dutch municipalities and provinces, developed by Tygron. In my research, I analysed how different user group engage with the software and how different levels of users’ data expertise influence what the tool communicates to the users. Subsequently, I defined what consequences, challenges and advantages, the software has on the broader social practice. In my research, I approached the tool from a critical data studies perspective and investigated it structurally as a data assemblage. I studied how the concept of mediatization unfolds in Tygron’s digital twin and what implication it has on the way the software represents the reality. Through applying the walkthrough as well as conducting a number of expert interviews I analysed the software’s interface and the experience of the users. In my research, I defined different user layers engaging with the software. Each of them has different objectives for using the tool and approaches the software with various levels of technical expertise. My research showed that the goal of the users as well as their data literacy influences the way the various groups perceive the results produced by the software.