IMRR UNESCO Chair and SIMR Webinar, 8 January 2025

Digital twin empowered urban flood and landslide emergency management

Limin Zhang, Chair Professor, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

Abstract

Climate change leads to more frequent and intense rainstorms. Many megacities need to answer the question “how to cope with extreme rainstorms such as the fatal storm on 20 July 2021 in Zhengzhou China.” In the digital era, digital twin emerges as a powerful tool to empower urban flood and landslide emergency management and enhance urban resilience. A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical system and updated through the exchange of information between the physical and virtual systems. In this webinar, I will introduce a unique city-scale digital twin intended as an integrated platform for managing landslide and flood hazards and coordinating societal responses. The digital twin is capable of monitoring, simulating, and displaying both hazard and societal response processes, and hence enabling more effective disaster emergency management. The implementation of the digital twin will therefore substantially upgrade Hong Kong’s risk management capabilities and public safety, advance the smart-city blueprint, and promote public education.

Speaker

Climate change leads to more frequent and intense rainstorms. Many megacities need to answer the question “how to cope with extreme rainstorms such as the fatal storm on 20 July 2021 in Zhengzhou China.” In the digital era, digital twin emerges as a powerful tool to empower urban flood and landslide emergency management and enhance urban resilience. A digital twin is a virtual representation of a physical system and updated through the exchange of information between the physical and virtual systems. In this webinar, I will introduce a unique city-scale digital twin intended as an integrated platform for managing landslide and flood hazards and coordinating societal responses. The digital twin is capable of monitoring, simulating, and displaying both hazard and societal response processes, and hence enabling more effective disaster emergency management. The implementation of the digital twin will therefore substantially upgrade Hong Kong’s risk management capabilities and public safety, advance the smart-city blueprint, and promote public education.