Healthy Area Development

Province of Utrecht

Healthy Area Development Template for Digital Twin (GGO-DT): The province of Utrecht wants to take health and safety into account when making provincial environmental policy. It is then important to correctly include the effects on health and safety in algorithms and indicators for major tasks such as housing construction, climate adaptation, energy transition and mobility transition.

Last change on 10th of November 2025, at 12:32 (CET) | Publication Standard 1.0

• Publication category: Impactful algorithms
• Impact assessment: Field not filled in.
• Status: In use

General information

Theme

• Living
• Nature and Environment
• Space and Infrastructure

Begin date

2023-03

Contact information

[e-mail]

Responsible use

Goal and impact

The province of Utrecht strives to take health and safety into account optimally, systematically and timely when making and implementing all provincial environmental policy. To this end, the province deploys various instruments. One of these is the GMO (Healthy Area Development) Digital Twin. This is a consideration framework that can also be used in Digital Twin in a digital 3D environment to clarify and value (complex) issues about health and safety in spatial developments and determine whether it complies with provincial policy.

Considerations

With the help of the digital twin system GMO, the experts involved from different disciplines can have a focused dialogue about bottlenecks, opportunities and ambitions for the development of the area. Besides higher planning quality in the area of Healthy and Safe, this can also save time during the planning process.

Human intervention

The GMO models and algorithms are to support consideration for plan choices to be made for an area. It is not a system that makes plan decisions on its own.

Risk management

• The digital twin visualisation is never used in a planning process without expert technical and policy support
• the digital twin visualisation is based on calculation methods approved by experts
• for each use in a municipal planning process, the models, standards and calculation methods used are explicitly explained and, if necessary, adapted to the local situation
• the translation between policy standard and digital platform is always transparent and comprehensible via the manual (https://geo.provincie-utrecht.nl/Publiek/GGO/).

Legal basis

• living environment quality decree
• environment act
• environmental vision

Links to legal bases

• living environment quality decree: https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0041313/2024-07-01
• environmental law: https://wetten.overheid.nl/BWBR0037885/2024-01-01
• environmental vision province of Utrecht: https://www.provincie-utrecht.nl/onderwerpen/omgevingswet-en-visie/omgevingsvisie

Elaboration on impact assessments

No personal data is used in GMO. There have been pilots over four years with different development areas

Operations

Data

In the GMO -DT, several map layers for an area are superimposed and calculated. Indicators used are:

1: road traffic noise cumulative according to SRM2,

2: air quality NO2 dwellings in countours 10PM and 2.5 PM,

3: odour nuisance,

4: external safety in terms of dwellings in contours of site-specific risk, 10-5,10-7,10-8,

5: heat stress, PET score wind chill in public spaces, DPRA module,

6: public green space, tree stock,

7: healthy green space,

Links to data sources

• Cumulative road traffic noise impact according to SRM2: https://www.rivm.nl/publicaties/technische-beschrijving-van-standaardrekenmethode-2-srm-2-voor
• air quality NO2 dwellings in countours 10PM and 2.5 PM: https://www.atlasleefomgeving.nl/thema/schone-lucht/kaarten
• odour nuisance: https://www.atlasleefomgeving.nl/thema/schone-lucht/geurhinder
• external safety in terms of dwellings within contours of site-specific risk, 10-5,10-7,10-8: https://www.atlasleefomgeving.nl/quickscan-pr-contouren-en-veiligheidsafstanden
• heat stress, PET score wind chill in public space, DPRA module: https://support.tygron.com/wiki/DPRA_Heat_Module
• public green spaces, tree stock: https://boomregister.nl/
• healthy green: https://www.openbaargroen.be/nieuws/meer-stadsgroen-de-3-30-300-vuistregel

Technical design

The system simulates the current quality of an area or plan for a number of quality indicators for the themes of noise, air, odour, external safety, electromagnetic radiation, climate adaptation (heat stress, water safety and flooding), greenery (in relation to health) and ease of movement, and what influences this quality. It uses a combination of visualising, identifying and calculating the various qualities. The 'yardsticks' used are based as much as possible on existing standards and/or advisory values of the WHO and/or recommendations of the Municipal Health Service/Health Council and/or expert judgement of substantive experts/RIVM.

External provider

Tygron is used for the Digital Twin. The province of Utrecht has developed the module/template for the GGO and made it publicly available for cost-free reuse by local authorities.