The emerging field of the science of cities (West, 2017) develops and uses digital urban models to understand complex urban phenomena. Such models facilitate experimentation and communication, and enable decision making and policy formulation. Like many global cities, Singapore’s government has invested significantly in this emerging field through digital twin urban models with the expectation that it will bring benefits to various stakeholders—the government, the research community, businesses, and residents of Singapore. Digital twin urban models are sociotechnical artifacts produced by the datafication and reduction of socio-physical phenomena in cities. As these models are designed and used by people, entail complex processes, involve diverse stakeholders, and have long life-cycles, the consequences or impacts can often be unexpected, unintended and even negative (Tenner, 1997). Scholars have called for a reflexive practice in model making to prevent such negative consequences in complex urban models (Stahl, 2011; Kitchin, 2014). A reflexive practice urges modellers to understand and communicate the potential implications of their models. This study aims to contribute to a reflexive urban model building practice by first understanding the micropolitics and broader politics in urban models through qualitative and quantitative datasets in order to identify the consequences of this relatively new urban modelling technology and help addressing them.

PI & Co-PIs: Chaewon Ahn, Connor Graham, Chang Jiat Hwee & Rudi Stouffs

Funding Agency: Humanities and Social Sciences Seed Fund, NUS
Project Duration: 5 August 2022 – 5 July 2024