Digital Pathways – Sensing, Simulating, and Certifying the Built Environment

Abstract

Digital technologies now shape how cities are understood, represented, and regulated. This editorial article frames the five contributions of ABC2: Journal of Architecture, Building, Construction, and Cities (2026-04) within that shift. The issue advances along three connected fronts or themes. The first is diagnosis. Integrated evaluation frameworks and satellite observation reveal where urban systems are fragile and who carries the heaviest burden and required coordination, from pandemic resilience in Cairo and Alexandria to heat exposure in southern Tehran. The second is representation. A single photograph becomes a textured 3D building model, and game engine platforms carry entire cities into real-time digital twins that inform planning and governance. The third is assurance. Image recognition and digital traceability turn construction compliance into a continuous, verifiable record embedded within manufacturing. Overall, the articles demonstrate that digital tools earn their value when they serve equity, transparency, and sound governance. They also suggest caution. While models simplify and algorithms carry assumptions, regulation seems to lag technical capability. The issue therefore treats digitalisation as an institutional project as much as a technical effort. It calls for data systems, simulation platforms, and verification frameworks that remain accountable to the people and places they represent, in direct support of the Sustainable Development Goals. These themes extend an editorial trajectory that has developed across earlier issues of the journal, moving from the convergence of technology, safety, and regulation toward the translation of sustainability into situated action. For researchers, the issue models methodological breadth across statistical, computational, and interpretive modes of inquiry. For practitioners and policymakers, it identifies where digital evidence is ready for adoption and where institutions must still catch up.