Digital Twin Research Trends on Elements of Built Environment

Year 2025, Volume: 10 Issue: 1, 273 - 290, 28.07.2025

Pelin Fırat Örs , Mina Aslan

https://doi.org/10.30785/mbud.1643310

Abstract

Deployment of digital twins is developing at a slow pace in the built environment practice, which includes the “architecture, engineering and construction” (AEC) sectors. This study investigates the built environment studies from the perspective of digital twins and aims to determine the research tendencies and focus points. For that purpose, a bibliometric analysis was performed employing data from the Web of Science platform and VOSviewer was utilized for visualization. Bibliometric analysis focused on three main elements: buildings, infrastructure, and urban areas. The findings indicate the prominence of technologies such as building information modeling (BIM) and the Internet of Things (IoT), especially for building- and urban-scale inquiries. Findings of this study offer a comprehensive overview regarding the state-of-the-art of digital twin research on built environment and provide valuable insights for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers. Study outcomes further shed light on the recent evolution of digital twin concept in the AEC sector.

Keywords

Digital twin , built environment , infrastructure , buildings , urban areas

Yapılı Çevre Elemanları Üzerine Dijital İkiz Araştırma Eğilimleri

Abstract

“Mimarlık, mühendislik, inşaat” (AEC) sektörlerinin de dahil olduğu yapılı çevre pratiğinde dijital ikiz uygulamalarının yavaş bir gelişim gösterdiği gözlemlenmektedir. Bu çalışma, bu bağlamda yapılı çevre literatürünü incelemekte ve dijital ikiz teknolojisine dair araştırmaların eğilimlerini ve odak noktalarını saptamayı hedeflemektedir. Bu amaçla, Web of Science platformundan alınan veriler kullanılarak bir bibliyometrik analiz gerçekleştirilmiş ve görselleştirme için VOSviewer kullanılmıştır. Bibliyometrik analiz üç ana unsura odaklanmıştır: binalar, altyapı ve kentsel alanlar. Bulgular, özellikle bina ve kentsel ölçekli araştırmalar için bina bilgi modellemesi (BIM) ve Nesnelerin İnterneti (IoT) gibi teknolojilerin önemini göstermektedir. Bu çalışmanın bulguları, yapılı çevrede dijital ikiz araştırmalarının son durumu hakkında kapsamlı bir genel bir bakış sunmakta ve akademisyenler, uygulayıcılar ve politika yapıcılar için değerli içgörüler sağlamaktadır. Çalışma sonuçları ayrıca AEC sektöründe dijital ikiz kavramının son zamanlardaki evrimine ışık tutmaktadır.

Keywords

Dijital ikiz , yapılı çevre , altyapı , binalar , kentsel alanlar

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