Case studies – DigiTwins4PEDs

Our Case Studies

City Spotlight: Dive into the Transformative Stories of DigiTwins4PEDs in Stuttgart, Wrocław, Rotterdam, and Vienna – A Global Exploration of Urban Energy Innovation.

Vienna

Rotterdam

Wrocław

Stuttgart

Urban Developement and Social Challenges in Stuttgart's Nordbanhnhofviertel

The Nordbahnhofviertel is facing urban development, social and societal challenges as a result of Stuttgart 21. The question arises how the existing and new neighbourhoods can be developed together sustainably and how the livelihood and well-being of current/future residents can be considered in the context of PEDs. Around 5,500 people live in the Nordbahnhofviertel. The neighbourhood is characterised by a high number of residents with a migration background, gentrification pressure and dense development in a limited space in the Stuttgart basin.

As part of a hybrid participation format, the target groups of 1) children and young people, 2) tenants and 3) owners are to be involved in temporary, target group specific interventions. An interactive participation platform is used to answer the question of which benefits Urban Digital Twins (UDT) have for the energy transition to PEDs.

Potential for Energy Innovation in the Wrocław District – Kleczków

Kleczków, a district in Wrocław, combines its industrial heritage with diverse residential and public buildings, offering significant potential for energy efficiency improvements. Historic tenement houses, often poorly insulated and equipped with outdated heating systems, represent a prime opportunity for energy retrofitting through better insulation, modern windows, and efficient heating solutions.

Mid-20th-century apartment blocks, partially modernized, could benefit further from upgrades like rooftop solar panels, optimized heating systems, and smart energy management. Meanwhile, recent residential developments already incorporate energy-saving technologies but could integrate more renewable energy sources.

Public buildings, including schools and municipal housing, often have high energy demands due to aging infrastructure. Investments in insulation, energy-efficient HVAC systems, and solar panels could significantly reduce their environmental impact. Former industrial sites, repurposed into offices or cultural spaces, also present opportunities for modernization, such as renewable energy installations and smart systems to improve efficiency.

Kleczków’s diverse building stock, ranging from modern housing and historic churches to industrial-era tram depots, provides a solid foundation for transforming the district into a “positive energy district,” where buildings not only minimize energy consumption but also generate surplus energy through renewable sources, contributing to a sustainable and self-sufficient urban environment.

Rotterdam case studies overview

Rotterdam is committed to finding future-proof solutions to reduce its carbon footprint and become carbon-neutral by 2050. However, the city will not be able to achieve its climate action pledge alone: input from the government, province, industries such as the port, as well as changes in city residents’ behaviour will also be necessary.

In particular, the focus will be on the cooling demand of (residential) buildings and how it will evolve in future. Due to the predicted rising temperatures, an increase of cooling demand is also expected. This means that the required energy demand (e.g. electricity) will also increase, leading to a set of questions regarding, first of all, where to find this additional energy and, then, its effects on the existing infrastructure. In other words, how far the further installation of photovoltaic systems within the study areas (possibly coupled with storage) may compensate for the additional demand? And then, would the existing power grid be able to satisfy the expected demand, or are grid congestions a possible risk?

Besides simulating the current and future cooling demand, the DigiTwins4PEDs project in Rotterdam will also try to investigate solutions to reduce the cooling demand. Specifically, attention will be paid to the type and applicability of measures that can be implemented, e.g. further building refurbishment, and to the effect of other urban greening and natural shadowing strategies.

Within DigiTwins4PEDs the neighbourhoods of Prinsenland and Feijenoord will serve as a test cases to experiment living labs and the development and evaluation of new IT-based tools for co-creation and community-based solutions to enable the civil society drive energy transformation by information exchange, visualising current and future cooling demand, flexibility scenarios and its socio-economic impact at a community level.

City of Rotterdam has already established a “Digital City Rotterdam” to improve the efficiency of urban planning and management. Connecting the Digital City Rotterdam with the activities and outputs of DigiTwins4PEDs will be a very valuable opportunity to engage citizens in a co-creation process to start the transition towards Positive Energy Districts (PEDs).

Vienna case study overview

The Vienna case study is aligned with the project area “Grätzl 20 + 2” located in the neighbouring 20th and 2nd district of Vienna. This project area is part of the WienNeu+ programme of the city. It was launched in early 2023 as a cross-district programme in the districts of Brigittenau and Leopoldstadt. It combines the area in the 20th district up to the Danube Canal and Stromstraße with the “Volkertviertel” and “Alliiertenviertel” neighbourhoods in the 2nd district, with Nordwestbahnstraße connecting the two areas.

WienNeu+1 is an ongoing urban renewal programme of the City of Vienna. It contributes to climate-friendly and future-oriented solutions for neighbourhoods. Urban renewal encompasses all aspects that make up life in the built city: buildings, public space, and the people who live there and participate in the processes and projects. The programme is set to run for 10 years. Innovative solutions are collected, evaluated, implemented, assessed and made usable for the City of Vienna in the long term.

The involvement of residents will be particularly important, as the city’s energy and climate goals can only be achieved if people are part of the process. Main topics are the Refurbishment and Energy Supply as well as to improve social neighbourhoods, public space and stakeholder partnerships in the area.

DigiTwins4PEDs will support developing strategies for addressing different actor groups on the topic of “clean energy transition.” A particular focus is on converting the current gas-based energy supply system to alternative renewable energy sources and assessing the impact of such a conversion on electricity and heat load management and associated peak loads.

An interactive participation platform will be used to answer the questions:

How can the platform increase citizen acceptance, awareness and willingness to participate in the transformation process?
How can citizens benefit from digital tools (e.g., UDT platforms) and be encouraged to use them for sustainable transformation processes and how can these be sustained?
What are the benefits of Urban Digital Twins (UDT) for the energy transition to PEDs?