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<front>
<journal-meta>
<journal-id journal-id-type="publisher">ISPRS-Annals</journal-id>
<journal-title-group>
<journal-title>ISPRS Annals of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences</journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="publisher">ISPRS-Annals</abbrev-journal-title>
<abbrev-journal-title abbrev-type="nlm-ta">ISPRS Ann. Photogramm. Remote Sens. Spatial Inf. Sci.</abbrev-journal-title>
</journal-title-group>
<issn pub-type="epub">2194-9050</issn>
<publisher><publisher-name>Copernicus Publications</publisher-name>
<publisher-loc>Göttingen, Germany</publisher-loc>
</publisher>
</journal-meta>
<article-meta>
<article-id pub-id-type="doi">10.5194/isprs-annals-XII-4-W2-2026-105-2026</article-id>
<title-group>
<article-title>AI-Empowered Urban Digital Twins: Integrating Geospatial and Legal Data for Spatial Planning and Governance</article-title>
</title-group>
<contrib-group><contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Koeva</surname>
<given-names>Mila</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Petrova-Antonova</surname>
<given-names>Dessislava</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9920-8877</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff2">
<sup>2</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Zlatanova</surname>
<given-names>Sisi</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8766-0487</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff3">
<sup>3</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Peters</surname>
<given-names>Rob</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff4">
<sup>4</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Persello</surname>
<given-names>Claudio</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Lehtola</surname>
<given-names>Ville</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Nourian</surname>
<given-names>Pirouz</given-names>
<ext-link>https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3817-7931</ext-link>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Flacke</surname>
<given-names>Johannes</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Grouls</surname>
<given-names>Raoul</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff5">
<sup>5</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
<contrib contrib-type="author" xlink:type="simple"><name name-style="western"><surname>Stein</surname>
<given-names>Alfred</given-names>
</name>
<xref ref-type="aff" rid="aff1">
<sup>1</sup>
</xref>
</contrib>
</contrib-group><aff id="aff1">
<label>1</label>
<addr-line>Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff2">
<label>2</label>
<addr-line>GATE Institute, Sofia University “St. Kliment Ohridski”, Sofia, Bulgaria</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff3">
<label>3</label>
<addr-line>School of Built Environment, University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney, Australia</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff4">
<label>4</label>
<addr-line>Provincie Utrecht (Province of Utrecht), Utrecht, The Netherlands</addr-line>
</aff>
<aff id="aff5">
<label>5</label>
<addr-line>HU University of Applied Sciences Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands</addr-line>
</aff>
<pub-date pub-type="epub">
<day>28</day>
<month>09</month>
<year>2026</year>
</pub-date>
<volume>XII-4/W2-2026</volume>
<fpage>105</fpage>
<lpage>112</lpage>
<permissions>
<copyright-statement>Copyright: &#x000a9; 2026 Mila Koeva et al.</copyright-statement>
<copyright-year>2026</copyright-year>
<license license-type="open-access">
<license-p>This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this licence, visit <ext-link ext-link-type="uri"  xlink:href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/</ext-link></license-p>
</license>
</permissions>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/XII-4-W2-2026/105/2026/isprs-annals-XII-4-W2-2026-105-2026.html">This article is available from https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/XII-4-W2-2026/105/2026/isprs-annals-XII-4-W2-2026-105-2026.html</self-uri>
<self-uri xlink:href="https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/XII-4-W2-2026/105/2026/isprs-annals-XII-4-W2-2026-105-2026.pdf">The full text article is available as a PDF file from https://isprs-annals.copernicus.org/articles/XII-4-W2-2026/105/2026/isprs-annals-XII-4-W2-2026-105-2026.pdf</self-uri>
<abstract>
<p>Urban planning increasingly requires accessible ways to connect regulatory frameworks with clear spatial visualisation and machine-assisted guidance. However, the integration of legal and geospatial information into platforms that support decision-making, communication, and participation remains limited. In particular, local authorities lack an operational way to translate legal and regulatory provisions into spatially explicit permit systems, and existing Urban Digital Twin architectures rarely formalise this legal-geospatial link. This paper uses Urban Digital Twins (UDTs) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), with a focus on generative AI, for smart, participatory, and responsible spatial planning. It proposes a conceptual framework for an AI-empowered Urban Digital Twin that integrates legal and 2D/3D geospatial data in both static and dynamic forms. Its aim is to support decision-making, information provision, and participation in spatial planning processes. The framework comprises five layers: data acquisition and harmonisation, data modelling, analytics and simulation, visualisation and interaction, and governance and decision support. Each of them are supported by AI models, and is illustrated through four case studies developed with the Province of Utrecht. The framework is supported by theoretical and methodological reflections and by experimental case studies. We conclude that integrating legal and geospatial data through AI-empowered UDTs strengthens spatial planning practices, improves regulatory interpretation, supports governance processes, and enables more informed and transparent decisions, provided that current limitations in AI reliability, explainability, and human oversight are explicitly addressed.</p>
</abstract>
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