City Digital Twins Are Set to Reshape Urban Utilities by 2027
In 2025, Russia’s Ministry of Construction announced an ambitious nationwide goal: by 2027, digital twins are to be created for all Russian cities with populations over one million. The initiative marks a turning point for how urban utilities are planned, managed, and maintained.
From Pilot Projects to a National Standard
The creation of digital twins has become part of a state-level strategy under the Smart City and IT Landscape for Urban Utilities 2025 programs. What once amounted to isolated pilot projects is now being scaled into a systematic digital transformation of core processes that have traditionally been handled manually. In practical terms, this represents a shift from fragmented automation toward a unified digital framework covering entire cities.
Digital twins are not merely virtual replicas. They function as fully fledged, “living” management systems that are expected to permanently change how the housing and utilities sector operates. Instead of constant emergency response, the sector is moving toward preventive forecasting and optimization.
Working prototypes already exist. Moscow has a full-scale digital twin that is used to oversee construction, transportation, and municipal infrastructure. Kazan is also actively developing its virtual counterpart, having digitized much of its utility networks and urban spaces. These examples demonstrate that the plan is technically feasible and provide a reference model for other major cities.
A Utilities Revolution: Speed, Economics, and Comfort
For the housing and utilities sector, the impact of digital twins is expected to be transformative. The most significant changes fall into three areas.
Integration with IoT sensors across engineering networks makes it possible not only to detect failures but to predict them. As shown by the digital twin of Mosvodokanal, the system can localize a leak to within one meter in just 10 minutes, while repair times are reduced to 30–40 minutes.
Automated, real-time monitoring of water, heat, and electricity consumption helps identify unaccounted losses and optimize network loads. According to expert estimates, comprehensive digitalization of urban utilities could generate annual savings of up to 50 billion rubles (about $600 million) through reduced losses and operational optimization alone.
Digital platforms also consolidate data from management companies, utility providers, and residents, making processes far more transparent. For residents, this translates into faster problem resolution, personalized notifications, and simple digital services, such as submitting meter readings online.
The Technology Stack: Data, Sensors, and AI
A digital twin is not a static 3D model but a dynamic system sustained by a constant flow of data. Its foundation is a detailed spatial model created using aerial photography, drones, and panoramic imaging.
A network of IoT sensors transmits real-time data on the condition of pipelines and power grids, pressure levels, water quality, and even how full waste containers are.
Predictive analytics and artificial intelligence process these large data sets, identify anomalies, simulate emergency scenarios, and generate recommendations for resource management.
It is the synergy of these technologies that turns a virtual copy into a powerful tool for informed decision-making.
Challenges on the Road to 2027
Despite the clear benefits, large-scale implementation faces serious challenges, including a shortage of qualified personnel, cybersecurity concerns, and the need for unified technical standards.
Creating digital twins for all million-plus cities by 2027 is a strategic step that will shape not only the housing and utilities sector but the entire urban infrastructure of Russia for years to come. It marks a transition from reactive management to predictive governance, from costly emergency repairs to their prevention. Success in this initiative would lay the groundwork for the next stage: developing a digital twin of the state itself in the areas of construction and infrastructure operations, with such plans already outlined through 2030.
