Creating better cities for people and the world

The World Bank estimates that 55% of the world’s population – 4.2 billion inhabitants – lives in cities today. But they project by 2050 that number will rise to where nearly 7 of 10 people on the planet will be city dwellers.

Another key figure: while cities occupy only about 3% of Earth’s surface, they’re responsible for consuming disproportionate amounts of natural resources and generating intense concentrations of pollution. These trends will only intensify as cities grow.

Clearly city planners, governments and businesses have a lot to do to prepare for this surge. And, at the same time, they’re also under pressure to meet the massive sustainability commitments leading up to 2050 deadlines, while also trying to overcome past infrastructure inefficiencies that need mending, such as crumbling roads and bridges. But they can’t forget to put people first, to make cities better for all citizens.

All of this has them on the hunt for new solutions. Having more data certainly helps, as it holds the key to gaining better insights and developing faster. But it’s also true that addressing one problem can create new ones: providing more housing, for example, also generates more waste, energy demand and greenhouse gas emissions. So it’s most powerful when data on every aspect of the infrastructure and city is fed into a scientifically accurate virtual twin experience, managed on a comprehensive collaborative platform.

The newest special report in our thought-leadership magazine, Compass, is dedicated to exploring this very problem: how our cities and the infrastructure within them can become the epicenter of a sustainable future for all people, and the role virtual twins can play in making that happen.

Our view: virtual twins that are created, analyzed, optimized and maintained on the 3DEXPERIENCE platform enable a complete transformation of the construction industry and its role in creating and evolving our cities as sustainable systems of systems. As net-zero construction moves from commitment into practice, virtual twin experience holds the key to success for cities, citizens and the planet.

Because our software enables virtual experimentation, stakeholders from a range of disciplines can experiment with limitless approaches without consuming any physical resources (except the electricity needed to run the computers) or exposing anyone to unanticipated negative consequences. The result is that city planners and business leaders can accurately understand the impacts of their ideas and find the best possible solutions.

The report, Creating sustainable infrastructure and cities, is comprised of an editorial, a column from our Vice President of Infrastructure & Cities Strategy and three articles including:

• Building a better future: Low-carbon, modular and circular solutions for net-zero buildings, cities and nations are helping reduce global emissions of greenhouse gases from constructing and operating buildings. Discover the role of virtual technologies play in planning, evaluating, building and monitoring new environments.
• A circular approach to construction: A deep drive into how modular building and the reformulation of buildings for reuse are two important pieces to help the construction industry become more sustainable.
• Rennes Métropole: This region of France serves 43 communities with nearly half a million residents and more than 18,000 companies. In a story told through pictures, discover their digital-age approach to managing the current environment with equity and efficiency, integrating modern facilities with the centuries-old buildings that give the region its historic charm, and managing quality-of-life issues.