Developing a Digital Twin for Climate Adaptation in NYC

Research symposium hosted by the Cornell Mui Ho Center for Cities.

In March 2024, the Urban Tech Hub welcomed more than 65 participants to Cornell Tech’s campus for a day-long planning workshop on the potential of emerging digital technologies to support more effective and equitable climate-adaptation planning. This workshop was hosted by the Cornell Mui Ho Center for Cities and the Urban Tech Hub as part of the NSF-funded Center for Urban Climate Adaptation Solutions grant (2334311). The convening was funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation’s CRISES program, which supports interdisciplinary research to create evidence-based solutions that strengthen human resilience, security and quality of life by addressing seemingly intractable challenges that confront society.

Bringing together experts from industry, government, academia, and civil society, this workshop examined the potential uses of a digital twin of New York City – a virtual representation of the city informed by live data streams from multiple sources – to support climate change adaptation. The aim of this effort is to create an open computational platform for decision-makers in the public and private sectors, researchers, civil society, and the general public to better understand climate-related issues and evaluate potential responses.