Soheil Sabri, Ph.D.
Director, Urban Digital Twin Lab
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Dr. Soheil Sabri is an Urban Planner and Geospatial Scientist focused on advancing urban development through research, practical work, and education. His main interests include Urban Digital Twins, Multi-dimensional Planning Support Systems, and analytical tools that provide data-driven insights for urban planning.
Dr. Sabri leads pioneering research in Urban Digital Twins, covering areas like Development Envelope Control, Rule-Based Compliance Assessment, and Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD). He significantly influences digital urban planning through his roles in various professional organizations, including co-chairing the Academia and Research Working Group within the Digital Twin Consortium and contributing to the Planning Institute of Australia’s PlanTech National Working Group, Geoscience Australia’s Spatial Digital Twin Working Group, and the Smart Cities Council’s Digital Twin Task Force.
Previously, Dr. Sabri was a senior research fellow at the Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructure and Land Administration at The University of Melbourne (2014-2023) and a senior lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (2012-2014). He collaborated on numerous consultancy and research projects with governments and industries worldwide, focusing on digital modernization of land and spatial planning, urban analytics, affordable housing, transportation planning, and assessing built environments’ impact on public health and welfare.
Dr. Sabri holds a PhD and two Post-Doctorate Fellowships in Geosimulation, Urban Analytics Data Infrastructure (UADI), and 3D Geospatial Techniques for Landscape Design. He developed a modular system architecture for Digital Twins, integrating 2D, 3D, and 4D data for built and natural environments and socio-economic systems, supporting analytics, visualization, predictive modeling, and simulations. He also mentors researchers interested in IoT, AI, and Deep Learning for ESD and Urban Quality of Life (UQoL).
As the director of the Urban Digital Twin Lab at SMST, Dr. Sabri oversees projects in 3D urban analytics, GeoDesign for climate adaptation, and human-environment interaction modeling and simulation, driving innovation in urban planning and geospatial science.
Education
- Postdoctoral researcher, Urban Analytics, Faculty of Engineering and IT, The University of Melbourne
- Postdoctoral researcher, 3D Gespatial and Landscape Design, Faculty of Engineering and IT and Faculty of Architecture, Building, and Planning, The University of Melbourne
- Ph.D., Urban & Regional Planning, University of Technology Malaysia
- M.S., Urban Planning, Science and Research University-Tehran
- M.S., IT Management (Executive), The University of Melbourne
Appointments
- Assistant Professor, School of Modeling, Simulation, and Training, UCF
- Lab Director, Urban Digital Twin (UDT), Institute for Simulation & Training, SMST, UCF
Courses
- IDS6147 Perspectives on Modeling and Simulation
- IDS6938 Introduction to Digital Transformation and Digital Twins
Highlights
Books
1. Sabri, S., Alexandridis, K., Lee, N. (Eds.). (2025). Digital Twins Fundamentals and Applications. Springer Nature.
2. Kim, H. M., Sabri, S., & Kent, A. K. (Eds.). (2021). Smart Cities for Technological and Social Innovation. Oxford: Elsevier.
3. M. Ludin, A. N., & Sabri, S. (Eds.). (2016). Spatial Analysis in Urban Planning. Johor Bahru: Penerbit UTM Press.
Peer-reviewed Book Chapters
1. Sabri, S., Alexandridis, K., Lee, N. (2024). Introduction to Digital Twins: Fundamentals and Applications. In Sabri et al. (Eds) Digital Twin: Fundamentals and Applications. Springer Nature.
2. Fischer, O. P., Sabri, S., & Chen, Y. (2024). Fundamentals of Digital Twins, Modeling Approaches, and Governance. In Sabri et al. (Eds) Digital Twin: Fundamentals and Applications. Springer Nature.
3. Reynolds, J., Sabri, S. & Lee, B. (2024). Digital Twins for Creating Value through “Buildings as Batteries” using a Mass Customization Network. In Sabri et al. (Eds) Digital Twin: Fundamentals and Applications. Springer Nature.
4. Aghaabbassi, M. & Sabri, S. (2024). Digital Twins for Assessing the Impact of Autonomous Vehicles on Built-Environment Changes. In Sabri et al. (Eds) Digital Twin: Fundamentals and Applications. Springer Nature.
Peer-reviewed Journals
1. Javaherian Pour, E., Atazadeh, B., Rajabifard, A., & Sabri, S. (2025). Review and assessment of 3D spatial data models for managing underground utility networks. Tunnelling and Underground Space Technology, 157, 106219. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tust.2024.106219
2. Aghaabbasi, M., & Sabri, S. (2025). Potentials of digital twin system for analyzing travel behavior decisions. Travel Behaviour and Society, 38, 100902. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tbs.2024.100902.
3. Xu, H., Omitaomu, F., Sabri, S. et al. Leveraging generative AI for urban digital twins: a scoping review on the autonomous generation of urban data, scenarios, designs, and 3D city models for smart city advancement. Urban Info 3, 29 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s44212-024-00060-w.
4. Wang, M., Ashour, M., Mahdiyar, A., & Sabri, S. (2024). Opportunities and Threats of Adopting Digital Twin in Construction Projects: A Review. Buildings, 14(8), Article 8. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings14082349.
5. Sabri, S., & Witte, P. (2023). Digital technologies in urban planning and urban management. Journal of Urban Management, 12(1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jum.2023.02.003
6. Haghani, M., Sabri, S., De Gruyter, C., Ardeshiri, A., Shahhoseini, Z., Sanchez, T. W., & Acuto, M. (2023). The landscape and evolution of urban planning science. Cities, 136, 104261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2023.104261
7. Assarkhaniki, Z., Sabri, S., Rajabifard, A., & Kahalimoghadam, M. (2023). Advancing sustainable development goals: Embedding resilience assessment. Sustainability Science, 18(5), 2405–2421. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-023-01372-7
8. Sabri, S., Chen, Y., Lim, D., Rajabifard, A., & Zhang, Y. (2022). AN INNOVATIVE TOOL FOR OPTIMISED DEVELOPMENT ENVELOPE CONTROL (DEC) ANALYSIS AND SCENARIO BUILDING IN DIGITAL TWIN. The International Archives of the Photogrammetry, Remote Sensing and Spatial Information Sciences, XLVIII-4-W4-2022, 117–123. https://doi.org/10.5194/ISPRS-ARCHIVES-XLVIII-4-W4-2022-117-2022
9. Tzachor, A., Sabri, S., Richards, C. E., Rajabifard, A., & Acuto, M. (2022). Potential and limitations of digital twins to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Nature Sustainability 2022, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-022-00923-7
1. Ambassador of Academia and Research, Digital Twin Consortium, 2023 – Present.
2. Team Service Award, Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructures and Land Administration (CSDILA), The University of Melbourne, 2022
3. Team Service Award, Centre for Spatial Data Infrastructures and Land Administration (CSDILA), The University of Melbourne, 2021
4. Best Postgraduate Award (PhD), School of Graduate Studies, University of Technology Malaysia, 2012.
5. Graduate Research Student Award (Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia), 2009 -2011.
6. Graduate Research Student Award (University of Technology Malaysia), 2010.
7. Best Poster Award, International Conference on Postgraduate Education, ICPE–4, 2010.
8. Best paper award, Faculty of Built Environment, Postgraduate Seminar, (University of Technology Malaysia), 2008.
Principle Investigator (PI), Urban Digital Twin Interoperability Pilot, Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC), 2024 – 2025. USD 60,000.
• Principle Investigator (PI), Developing Professional Training and Capacity Building for Integration of Human-Machine Systems and Digital Twin Technologies, IEEE SMC Society, 2024 – 2025. US$ 19,516.34
• Co-Principle Investigator (Co-PI), A Modelling Framework for Designing More Sustainable Urban Freight Systems, Australian Research Council, Discovery Projects, DP240103054, 2024-2027, AU$594,793.0
• Co-Principle Investigator (Co-PI), Developing prototype system for SmatLand Indonesia, World Bank, Ministry of Agrarian Affairs and Spatial Planning, 2022 – 2023. AU$860,000.0
• Co-Principle Investigator (Co-PI), 3D Geospatial Routing and Information Visualisation, DMTC, Synth Tech, 2022 – 2023, AU$360,000.0
• Co-Principle Investigator (Co-PI), Urban Ecological Adaptation and Digital Twin, Faculty of Building, Architecture, and Planning, The University of Melbourne, 2021 – 2022. A$50,000.0
• Principle Investigator (PI), Data Exchange and Interoperability Analysis of AccuRate online and Digital Twin, CSIRO Energy, 2021, A$ 54,000.0
• Co-Principle Investigator (Co-PI), Developing Pedestrian Design (PedDesign) tool for Digital Twin, ARUP, 2020 – 2021. Chief-Investigator A$ 450,000.0
• Principle Investigator (PI), The University of Melbourne’s Digital Twin for Planning and Design, The University of Melbourne’s Chancellery, 2020. Chief-investigator, A$ 50,000.0
Research
- Systemic Analysis of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Interlinkages and Development of a Sense-Making Platform and Visualisation Tool
- 3D Geospatial Modeling, Simulation, Analytics, and Visualisation
- Digital Twin development and integration with public health analytics toward improved neighbourhood and infrastructure design
- Data Exchange and Interoperability Analysis of Building Energy Modeling and Digital Twin
- Spatially Enabled Platform to Support Productivity, Sustainability, and Liveability Planning
- Real-time analytics, Planning, and Managing Critical Infrastructure Systems
Research Interests:
Digital Twins
GeoDesign
Geosimulation
Geospatial
Human-Environment Interaction Modeling and Simulation
Planning Support Systems
Urban Analytics
Urban Digital Twins
Areas of Expertise:
Composable and Modular Digital Twin System Architecture
Digital Twin Business Analysis
Spatial Modeling and Simulation
Environmentally Sustainable Design (ESD)
Geospatial Artificial Intelligence (GeoAI)
Urban Analytics
Application Areas:
Smart Cities
Critical Infrastructure Systems
Urban Design
Sustainable Urban Development