Goteverse Logotype
About GoteverseDigital site visitsVirtual GothenburgDigital Experiences
Virtual Gothenburg

A Digital Twin of Gothenburg

Gothenburg is developing at an incredible pace, and the ability to coordinate, reach consensus and communicate effectively is more important than ever. Virtual Gothenburg is the digital twin of the city, a 800 km ² 3D-model, based on the city's own geographical information. It has been created to understand the world around us, analyze our environment, and make more informed decisions.

What is a digital twin?

A digital twin is a three-dimensional, scaled-down copy of the real city. Every building, street, lamppost, tree and planted vegetation is represented as well as data that describes the city and its objects.

With the help of Virtual Gothenburg, we can make urban planning smarter and more efficient, enabling us to build a better city for our inhabitants. It allows us to conduct detailed studies of the city from three perspectives:

  • Understand what the existing city looks like and how everything works.
  • Control different functions in the city, based on what is happening in real time.
  • Predict, plan and simulate future functions or events in the city.

Leading edge of technology – inspired by the computer games industry

Virtual Gothenburg is constructed using parametric modelling, meaning that buildings, roads and other objects are based on specific parameters. These parameters can then be controlled and the variables changed to obtain a model as close to reality as possible. Materials and textures are added in the same way to bring the model to life.

Parametric workflows are already used in the game and film industries, where large, complex 3D urban environments are created much faster than with conventional modelling. The City Planning Authority of Gothenburg has used this technology for several years in its detailed planning of city models and visualisations.

Virtual Gothenburg is created in Unreal Engine, developed by Epic Games, which is used in the popular computer game Fortnite, among others.

Episode 1: What is a digital twin?

Episode 2: How can a digital twin be used?

Episode 3: How do you visualize things that are not visible?

Episode 4: See how a digital twin is created

Episode 5: How can we use AI (Artificial Intelligence) in the future?

A Digital Twin of Gothenburg | Goteverse