Proactive Urban Livability and Safety Engine with Integrated Social Digital Twin
With high levels of crime and social deprivation, Heerlen is one of the Netherlands’ least liveable cities. The PULSE-TWIN project’s response is an innovative Social Digital Twin that incorporates social and security data from official sources with frontliner and community inputs – using AI to recognise patterns and predict outcomes. This enables faster and better informed decision-making, prevention and frontline actions, improving public services. It also supports inclusive community engagement – and compliance with ethical, legal and societal standards – aiming to enhance social acceptance, public trust, community ownership and cohesion.
About
The city of Heerlen faces complex social, economic and safety challenges decades after the closure of its once-thriving coal industry. Issues such as poverty, youth disengagement and organised crime undermine social cohesion and trust in institutions. Yet there are also signs of resilience, creativity and a strong willingness to innovate.
In Heerlen-Noord, home to 70% of the city’s population, income, education and literacy levels are low, and problematic debt persists. In this district, 40% of residents say they feel unsafe, compared with a national average of 14%. Police capacity is stretched, and many citizens feel disconnected from the authorities.
The PULSE-TWIN project offers a breakthrough response: a Social Digital Twin that integrates real-time security and social data from official sources, frontline professionals and citizens – using AI technology to recognise patterns and predict outcomes. This enables better-informed urban decision-making, strengthens frontline interventions, and empowers citizens to contribute actively to making neighbourhoods safer and more liveable.
The project is led by the Municipality of Heerlen and implemented with diverse partners: Nationale Politie; Buurtteams Heerlen; JENS; Stichting Veilig Ontwerp en Beheer; Brightlands Smart Services Campus; and Maastricht University’s Brightlands Institute for Smart Society. In addition, the cities of Genk (BE), Sant Boi de Llobregat (ES) and Piraeus (GR) will explore selected PULSE-TWIN tools and approaches in their own local context.
By combining data, technology and community engagement, PULSE-TWIN aims to become a scalable model for socially inclusive and data-driven urban safety in Europe.
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The European Urban Initiative is an essential tool of the urban dimension of Cohesion Policy for the 2021-2027 programming period. The initiative established by the European Union supports cities of all sizes, to build their capacity and knowledge, to support innovation and develop transferable and scalable innovative solutions to urban challenges of EU relevance.
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