Digital twins, virtual representations of physical objects and processes, are increasingly being applied at the urban scale to model, simulate, and manage entire cities. Promoted as tools for better planning and decision-making, they are often promoted as a new phase in smart city development and technology-driven urbanism.

The panel, organized by Otello Palmini (University of Bologna) and Sophia Knopf (TransforM & MCube, Technical University of Munich), was prompted by the observation that a distinct European approach to urban digital twins is currently emerging. This agenda often emphasizes participation, transparency, and reliability in the design and implementation of Urban Digital Twins.

To explore these developments, the panel brought together a series of case studies from European cities. Contributions presented by Arthur De Jaeger and Jiska Engelbert (both Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for BOLD Cities), Ilaria Bartone (APS Public Health Environment and Social Equity – PLANET), and the panel organizers examined how urban digital twins are shaped by local political, institutional, and socio-technical contexts, and how questions of inequality become embedded in their development.

The contributions formed the basis for a broader discussion with panel discussant Rob Kitchin (Maynooth University). Together, participants reflected on how urban digital twins can reproduce or challenge existing inequalities, how dominant imaginaries shape ideas of what a “successful” digital twin should look like, and what pursuing a specifically European approach to responsible urban digital twin development might entail.

The discussion underscored a key insight: urban digital twins are not merely technological innovations. Their development is deeply connected to questions of governance, politics, social justice, and the collective shaping of urban futures. In line with the interdisciplinary and social scientific concerns around transformative technologies that characterize the work of the TransforM cluster, the panel emphasized the importance of addressing these dimensions together to ensure that urban digital twins contribute to more inclusive and equitable cities.