Authors : Aljazi Alsubaey; Almayasa Alaawaj; Hamda Alkhulaifi; Rima J. Isaifan

Volume/Issue : Volume 11 - 2026, Issue 3 - March

Google Scholar : https://tinyurl.com/bdzfd3av

Scribd : https://tinyurl.com/yhckkjc7

DOI : https://doi.org/10.38124/ijisrt/26mar1899

Note : A published paper may take 4-5 working days from the publication date to appear in PlumX Metrics, Semantic Scholar, and ResearchGate.

Abstract : Digital twins are increasingly promoted as advanced decision-support tools for climate change mitigation and airquality management. By creating data-driven virtual replicas of cities, infrastructures, and environmental systems, digital twins promise improved forecasting, scenario testing, and evidence-based policymaking. Governments and international organizations often frame these technologies as objective and neutral solutions capable of improving policy decisions and environmental outcomes. Despite their rapid adoption, there is limited critical evaluation of whether digital twins genuinely enhance climate and air-quality decision-making or whether they reinforce technocratic forms of governance that marginalize political accountability, human judgment, and local knowledge. This research will critically examine the role of digital twins in climate and air-quality policy from a governance and decision-quality perspective. Touching interdisciplinary literature from environmental policy, science and technology studies, and AI governance, the study will analyze how digital twins frame environmental problems, define “optimal” outcomes, and represent uncertainty. Using comparative case studies of digital twin initiatives in selected smart cities and climate policy programs, the research will evaluate whether these systems improve transparency, inclusiveness, and accountability in policymaking or instead function as technocratic instruments that obscure value judgments and concentrate decision-making power. This study contributes to debates on smart cities, algorithmic governance, and public-sector innovation by challenging techno-solutionist assumptions in environmental governance. It aims to inform policymakers and researchers about the conditions under which digital twins can serve as meaningful decision-support tools rather than technocratic illusions in climate and air-quality policymaking.

Keywords : Digital Twins; Smart Cities; Urban Digital Twin; Environmental Governance; Air Quality Management; Policy Decision-Making.

References :

1. AI-generated digital twins for science (HORIZON-INFRA-2025-01-TECH-04). (2025). Time Machine Europe. https://www.timemachine.eu/funding-opts/ai-generated-digital-twins-for-science-horizon-infra-2025-01-tech-04/
2. Al-Mohannadi, M., Awwaad, R., Furlan, R., Grosvald, M., Al-Matwi, R., & Isaifan, R. J. (2023). Sustainable Status Assessment of the Transit-Oriented Development in Doha’s Education City. Sustainability, 15(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15031913
3. Al-Thani, H. G., & Isaifan, R. J. (2024). Policies and Regulations for Sustainable Clean Air: An Overview. In M. C. Ogwu & S. C. Izah (Eds.), Sustainable Strategies for Air Pollution Mitigation: Development, Economics, and Technologies (pp. 409–437). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2024_1093
4. Al-Thani, L., & Isaifan, R. J. (2025). Breathing in the margins: Rethinking indoor air pollution and housing equity in urban slums. Edelweiss Applied Science and Technology, 9(8), 453–477.
5. Azadi, S., Kasraian, D., Nourian, P., & Wesemael, P. van. (2025). What have urban digital twins contributed to urban planning and decision making?: A systematic literature review and a socio-technical research and development agenda. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202501.0523.v1
6. Batty, M. (2018). Digital twins. Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science, 45(5), 817–820. https://doi.org/10.1177/2399808318796416
7. Batty, M. (2024). Digital Twins in City Planning. https://www.nature.com/articles/s43588-024-00606-7
8. Bauer, P., Stevens, B., & Hazeleger, W. (2021). A digital twin of Earth for the green transition. Nature Climate Change, 11(2), 80–83.
9. Bauer, Stevens & Hazeleger. (2021). A Digital Twin of Earth for the Green Transition. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-021-00986-y
10. Bollano, S. (2025). A Systematic Study on the Integration of Smart City Technologies in Urban Planning and Governance in Europe. European Journal of Technology, 9(1), 1–34. https://doi.org/10.47672/ejt.2680
11. Brauer, M. (2024). State of Global Air 2024. Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation. https://www.healthdata.org/research-analysis/library/state-global-air-2024
12. Dembski, F., Wössner, U., Letzgus, M., Ruddat, M., & Yamu, C. (2020). Urban Digital Twins for Smart Cities and Citizens: The Case Study of Herrenberg, Germany. Sustainability, 12(6), 2307. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12062307
13. Destination Earth. (2026). https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Destination_Earth
14. Fuller, A., Fan, Z., Day, C., & Barlow, C. (2020). Digital Twin: Enabling Technologies, Challenges and Open Research. IEEE Access, 8, 108952–108971. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2998358
15. IPCC. (2023). AR6 Synthesis Report: Climate Change 2023. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/
16. Isaifan, R. J., & Al-Thani, H. G. (2024). Action Taken to Reduce Air Pollution and Its One Health Impacts in MENA Countries. In M. C. Ogwu & S. C. Izah (Eds.), Sustainable Strategies for Air Pollution Mitigation: Development, Economics, and Technologies (pp. 439–473). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/698_2024_1094
17. Jasanoff. (2016). The Ethics of Invention: Technology and the Human Future. https://www.hks.harvard.edu/publications/ethics-invention-technology-and-human-future
18. Jasanoff, S. (2004). States of Knowledge: The Co-Production of Science and the Social Order.
19. Jasanoff, S. (2021). Knowledge for a Just Climate. 169. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10584-021-03275-x
20. Kitchin, R. (2014). The real-time city? Big data and smart urbanism. GeoJournal, 79(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-013-9516-8
21. Kitchin, R. (2021). The Data Revolution: A Critical Analysis of Big Data, Open Data and Data Infrastructures. SAGE.
22. Knopf, Macq & Wentland. (2025). Urban Futures in the Mirror of Technology? The Politics of Urban Digital Twins. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14614448251338297
23. Lis, M., & Mądziel, M. (2026). Green Transportation Planning for Smart Cities: Digital Twins and Real-Time Traffic Optimization in Urban Mobility Networks. Applied Sciences, 16(2). https://doi.org/10.3390/app16020678
24. Marcucci, E. (2020). Digital Twins: A Critical Discussion on Their Potential for Supporting Policy-Making and Planning in Urban Logistics. https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/12/24/10623
25. Morozov & Bria. (2016). Rethinking the Smart City. https://rosalux.nyc/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/RLS-NYC_smart_cities_EN.pdf
26. Morozov, E. (2013). To Save Everything, Click Here.
27. Pinho-Gomes, A.-C., Roaf, E., Fuller, G., Fowler, D., Lewis, A., ApSimon, H., Noakes, C., Johnstone, P., & Holgate, S. (2023). Air pollution and climate change. The Lancet Planetary Health, 7(9), e727–e728. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2542-5196(23)00189-4
28. Prasath, C. A., & Vishnupriya.T. (2025). AI-Enabled Digital Twin Framework for Predictive Maintenance in Smart Urban Infrastructure. Journal of Smart Infrastructure and Environmental Sustainability, 2(1), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.17051/JSIES/02.01.01
29. Raes, L., Concilio, G., Doran, C., Temmerman, L., & Crompvoets, J. (2025). Local Digital Twins for Smart Cities: Opportunities for Evidence-Informed Decision-Making. In L. Raes, S. Ruston McAleer, I. Croket, P. Kogut, M. Brynskov, & S. Lefever (Eds.), Decide Better: Open and Interoperable Local Digital Twins (pp. 33–57). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-81451-8_3
30. Rasheed, A., San, O., & Kvamsdal, T. (2020). Digital Twin: Values, Challenges and Enablers From a Modeling Perspective. IEEE Access, 8, 21980–22012. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2020.2970143
31. Saltelli, A., Gigerenzer, G., Hulme, M., Katsikopoulos, K. V., Melsen, L. A., Peters, G. P., Pielke, R., Robertson, S., Stirling, A., Tavoni, M., & Puy, A. (2024). Bring digital twins back to Earth. WIREs Climate Change, 15(6), e915. https://doi.org/10.1002/wcc.915
32. Shindell, D., Faluvegi, G., Seltzer, K., & Shindell, C. (2018). Quantified, localized health benefits of accelerated carbon dioxide emissions reductions. Nature Climate Change, 8(4), 291–295. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0108-y
33. Steiner. (2025). City Digital Twins and the Urban Laboratory: The Practice and Politics of Sandbox Urbanism. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264275125005621?via%3Dihub
34. Topping, D., Bannan, T. J., Coe, H., Evans, J., Jay, C., Murabito, E., & Robinson, N. (2021). Digital Twins of Urban Air Quality: Opportunities and Challenges. Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 3. https://doi.org/10.3389/frsc.2021.786563
35. UNFCCC. (2015). The Paris Agreement. UNFCCC. https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement
36. Wu, D., Zheng, A., Yu, W., Cao, H., Ling, Q., Liu, J., & Zhou, D. (2025). Digital Twin Technology in Transportation Infrastructure: A Comprehensive Survey of Current Applications, Challenges, and Future Directions. Applied Sciences, 15(4). https://doi.org/10.3390/app15041911