Space Data Completes Overseas Demonstration of Urban Digital Twin Under MLIT's 'Project PLATEAU'

Space Data Inc. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President & CEO: Koyo Sato; hereinafter 'Space Data') has completed a demonstration project commissioned under the overseas expansion initiative of 'Project PLATEAU', a 3D city model development, utilization, and open-data project promoted by Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT). The project, titled 'Survey Work for Building Urban Digital Twins Using Satellite Data', was conducted from April 2025 to March 2026 in Semenyih, Selangor, Malaysia, and Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The results were published on the official Project PLATEAU website on March 31, 2026.

The key point of this demonstration was the construction and verification of urban digital twins in overseas regions lacking 3D city models, utilizing satellite imagery, open data, and AI. By combining satellite imagery, open data, and AI analysis, the company developed a method to build urban digital twins without heavy reliance on on-site surveys, and verified it through collaboration with local institutions in Malaysia. As a result, they confirmed a cost reduction of approximately 94% compared to traditional 3D city model development methods. Furthermore, the urban digital twin built in Semenyih, Malaysia, was verified to have building position consistency exceeding pre-set targets when compared with on-site drone measurement data. This demonstrates the potential to generate usable data for disaster prevention and urban planning at low cost and over wide areas, even in regions without sufficient surveying infrastructure.

Additionally, through technical introductions and hearings with overseas government agencies, research institutions, and private companies, the method was presented to organizations in a wide range of countries and regions, including Malaysia, Nepal, Vietnam, Paraguay, Egypt, Maldives, Morocco, South Africa, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Cook Islands, Austria, Philippines, Nigeria, Hungary, and Germany. Nearly all institutions that provided detailed responses gave the highest score on a 5-point scale for the usefulness of disaster-related use cases and willingness to adopt the technology. Furthermore, regarding willingness to participate in pilot projects, over half of the institutions responded with the highest score of '10' on a 10-point scale, indicating extremely positive feedback. These results were disseminated internationally through exhibitions and hearings at the world's largest space conference, the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) held in Sydney, Australia, and through a side event presentation at the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee (STSC) of the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) held in Vienna, Austria.

Project Overview

'Project PLATEAU' is a project led by MLIT to promote the development, utilization, and open-data distribution of 3D city models across Japan. This project was conducted as part of an initiative to deploy urban digital twin technology originating from Japan, cultivated through Project PLATEAU, to overseas cities lacking 3D city models.

In emerging countries and other regions, the need for urban digital twin data in urban development and disaster prevention is becoming apparent due to rapid urbanization and increased natural disaster risks from climate change.

On the other hand, traditional 3D city model development using ground or aerial surveys involves high costs, making adoption difficult in regions with limited budgets and specialized personnel. This project verified a method for building urban digital twins that is less dependent on on-site surveys by combining satellite imagery, open data, and AI. By visualizing flood risks and other factors on the constructed data, the project confirmed the potential for social implementation in the fields of disaster prevention and urban planning.

Overview of the Method

This method consists of a data generation function emphasizing positional accuracy and a visualization function for intuitively understanding urban spaces. In data generation, attributes such as building shape, height, roof shape, and color are estimated using AI based on satellite imagery and open data, and output in CityGML format, considering data linkage and international standardization for overseas deployment. In visualization, 3DCG technology is used to enhance the representation of buildings, water bodies, forests, etc., and by reflecting flood inundation ranges and water level changes in 3D space, it presents images that allow administrative officials and research institutions to intuitively grasp damage scenarios.

Main Verification Results

This demonstration evaluated the technology from three perspectives: positional accuracy, construction cost, and usefulness in public policy, to verify technical reliability, economic efficiency, and potential for social implementation. Particularly for external communication, the core outcomes of this project were identified as the technical possibility of building urban digital twins even in overseas regions without 3D data, verification through collaboration with local institutions, and evaluations from many overseas organizations.

Construction Cost Verification:

For construction cost verification, the traditional development cost using the 3D city model development cost estimation tool published by MLIT was compared with the construction cost of this method. The result confirmed a cost reduction of approximately 94% compared to the traditional method. This demonstrates the potential for wide-area and continuous development and updating of urban digital twins even in emerging countries with significant budget constraints.

Positional Accuracy Verification:

For positional accuracy verification, the consistency of building positions in the generated urban digital twin was evaluated against on-site drone measurement data in the Semenyih, Malaysia demonstration area. The building position consistency exceeded the pre-set targets. While this does not mean it provides universal accuracy to replace precise surveying, it confirmed that as a satellite data-derived model that can be developed at low cost over wide areas, it can ensure a practical level of quality usable for initial studies in disaster prevention and urban planning.

Public Policy Usefulness Verification:

For public policy usefulness verification, hearings and questionnaires were conducted with overseas government agencies, space agencies, research institutions, and private businesses, presenting them with the urban digital twin of the Semenyih area and flood visualization videos. Nearly all institutions that provided detailed responses gave the highest score on a 5-point scale for the usefulness of disaster-related use cases and willingness to adopt the technology. Furthermore, regarding willingness to participate in pilot projects, half of the valid responses selected the highest score of '10' on a 10-point scale, with other responses being '8' or '9', confirming extremely positive reactions. The hearings revealed diverse potential applications, including flood inundation prediction, notification of affected households, medical facility location planning, urban planning, environmental monitoring, risk assessment for landslides, floods, earthquakes, and fires, and agricultural land monitoring.

These results were disseminated overseas through exhibitions and hearings at the IAC and a presentation at an STSC side event, in collaboration with the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs and other related organizations. Through these efforts, in addition to demonstrating the potential for use in disaster prevention and urban development in overseas cities, a foundation was built for the international deployment of PLATEAU's expertise.