City Information Models (CIMs) present several research challenges and
are arguably pre-cursors for a roadmap to the transition to Urban or
City Digital Twins (UDTs/CDTs) and broader smart city drives. In a
period of digital transformation in urban planning, CIMs are primarily
designed to intersect and merge urban GIS/BIM in what is termed GeoBIM.
CIMs are often cloud-based geospatial services and data repositories
with one-way data connections, which differ from integrated and
high-fidelity cyber-physical complex systems for digital twins (DTs).
However, there is a lack of precision in terms of defining CIMs and
UDTs, and this paper examines four broad sociotechnical research
challenges regarding the progress of CIMs toward full UDTs/CDTs,
including (1) technical training for adoption, (2) acquisition
strategies for aerial data and remote sensing, (3) data licensing types
and system management, and (4) stakeholder engagement with CIM
platforms. These four research challenges and digital transformation are
discussed by using back-casting futuring methods, establishing a
framework for CIMs through co-designed workshops, and explored in the
Lancaster City Information Model (LCIM) prototype. The LCIM, as a
resulting case study, was developed for architects, planners, and
stakeholders to engage with 3D urban models and urban analytics (view
sheds, masterplan scenarios, and solar potentials of buildings) from
2019 to 2021 to address digital inequality in planning and data
fragmentation. The framework and prototype results resulted in the most
extensive 3D open urban dataset published in the UK, consisting of a
baseline of 1″+/− buildings and infrastructure and 7.5 cm aerial imagery
and a framework for developing transitions from CIMs to UDTs. The
delivery of this case and the resulting published dataset highlights the
essential research needed regarding definitions and precision around
terminology and systems between CIMs and UDTs and four applied
challenges in digital transformation and future socio-technical
relationships.