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Title of the thesis: Structural Integration and Dynamic Modelling of Biodiversity in Urban Digital Twins

Thesis defender: Laura Mrosla
Opponents: Prof. Leonie K. Fischer, University of Stuttgart, Germany and Prof. Dagmar Haase, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany
Custos: Prof. Pia Fricker, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture

Despite their growing role in urban planning, digital twins rarely treat biodiversity as a central, dynamically represented dimension. Laura Mrosla’s doctoral thesis explores how flora and, to a lesser extent, fauna can be structurally integrated into Urban Digital Twins through standards-based modelling and immersive representation.

In practice, Urban Digital Twins often represent vegetation as static or semantically superficial elements, which constrains their usefulness for understanding growth, management scenarios and ecological trade-offs. The thesis analyses why biodiversity remains marginal in these systems and develops conceptual and communicative approaches to embed it more robustly.

The research identifies three interconnected gaps: insufficient and heterogeneous data, limited semantic depth in current data standards, and inadequate attention to communication and usability. Although the current CityGML 3.0 standard includes a Vegetation module, it lacks attributes for structural components, growth dynamics, management history and biodiversity-relevant information. 

In response, the thesis develops a conceptual Application Domain Extension (ADE) for CityGML 3.0. This extension provides a structured, interoperable framework for representing vegetation with greater semantic richness and temporal dynamics. The model was iteratively refined through feedback from international stakeholders to align with diverse user needs.

Complementing this semantic work, the thesis presents a virtual reality case study based on empirical biodiversity data from a restoration site in Tartu, Estonia. The study demonstrates that field inventory data can be translated into an immersive environment accessible to non-specialists. It also reveals a persistent trade-off between modelling fidelity, computational performance and communicative clarity.

The main result of this doctoral thesis is that biodiversity can be integrated into Urban Digital Twins as a structurally embedded, semantically rich and communicatively effective dimension of digital urban infrastructure. However, progress requires coordinated advances in data availability, standards development and audience-aware design, rather than technical optimisation alone.

The findings provide a foundation for future development of biodiversity-aware Urban Digital Twins. The thesis presents conceptual and demonstrative components rather than a fully operational system, and their transferability depends on local data conditions, planning practices and environmental contexts.

Keywords: urban digital twins, biodiversity, vegetation, CityGML 3.0, Vegetation ADE, virtual reality

Thesis available for public display 7 days prior to the defence at . 

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