Merging BIM, Land Use and 2D Cadastral Maps into a Digital Twin Fit—For—Purpose Geospatial Infrastructure

Digital Twin (DT) technology is the tool for monitoring, management and intervening in a timely manner to prevent disasters in urban areas, transforming them into smart cities. By enabling real-time data flow through utilizing a vast network of interconnected sensors and smart devices the functioning of buildings, facilities and utility networks can be monitored, managed and optimized to achieve a more stabilized, fair and sustainable urban environment. Good land management and optimal exploitation can also be achieved. The paper presents an innovative crowdsourced methodology for a fast, low cost and reliable structuring of the necessary geospatial infrastructure for a digital twin of an urban neighborhood by merging and visualizing individual BIMs with available open data, such as open orthophotos and cadastral maps, planning and building regulations, as well as existing land uses, smart devices and metric data derived from the Google Earth Pro and Street View platforms. The above-mentioned data if transferred into an open-source platform, such as Tandem, are ideal for tracking, managing and improving the residents’ living, from an economic, hygienic, safety and ecological point of view. Data derived from smart devices is a prerequisite for predicting and preventing various problems and setbacks.