A MUNICIPAL DIGITAL TWIN SIMULATOR FOR DRONE-ASSISTED EMERGENCY ACCESS IN RURAL TERRITORIES

Authors

  • Juan Velado-Arenas Advanced Artificial Intelligence Group (A2IG), Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Pozuelo de Alarcón, 28223 Madrid, Spain
  • Jorge Cisneros-González Advanced Artificial Intelligence Group (A2IG), Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Pozuelo de Alarcón, 28223 Madrid, Spain https://orcid.org/0009-0003-7859-5622
  • José Antonio Ondiviela García Citizen-Centric Intelligent Cities Research Institute, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Madrid, Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6732-8754
  • Javier Sánchez-Soriano Advanced Artificial Intelligence Group (A2IG), Escuela Politécnica Superior, Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Pozuelo de Alarcón, 28223 Madrid, Spain https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0367-9907

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.66838/sauc.6414

Keywords:

Municipal Digital Twin, Drone-assisted Emergency Services, Rural Resilience, Virtual Testing, Urban Air Mobility, Explainable Decision Support, Unmanned aerial vehicles

Abstract

Public services planned around averages can conceal structurally underserved residents in dispersed rural territories. This study develops a municipal digital twin simulator for testing drone-assisted emergency access in a Spanish municipality of nineteen settlements covering 406.71 km². The study first characterizes existing road-based emergency access and identifies four peripheral settlements, comprising 46 residents, with disproportionately long response times. The resulting equity indicators make this territorial discontinuity visible and provide a criterion for evaluating intervention scenarios. The simulator integrates the territorial model, emergency resources, deterministic allocation logic, three-dimensional visualization, replayable virtual scenarios and an inspectable decision account. Its prototype was validated in collaboration with the municipal authority through scenario-based sessions using the real territorial and operational context. Municipal feedback was incorporated into successive iterations, and the resulting system was assessed for functional behavior, interpretability and practical usefulness to non-technical decision makers. The prototype therefore represents a pilot-validated simulation environment for municipal planning and is consistent with the TRL5 criterion of a validated prototype in a real-world context. The study shows how digital-twin simulation can support equitable, transparent and citizen-centered emergency planning before physical deployment of drone services.

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Published

2026-10-27

How to Cite

Velado-Arenas, J., Cisneros-González, J., Ondiviela García, J. A., & Sánchez-Soriano, J. (2026). A MUNICIPAL DIGITAL TWIN SIMULATOR FOR DRONE-ASSISTED EMERGENCY ACCESS IN RURAL TERRITORIES. Street Art & Urban Creativity, 12(6), 92–110. https://doi.org/10.66838/sauc.6414

Issue

Vol. 12 No. 6 (2026)

Section

Research articles

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