Digital Twin Guides the Next Era of Downtown Wake Forest

Downtown Wake Forest, North Carolina, has long been cherished for its historic charm and small-town spirit. But its future is being shaped by rapid population growth and the arrival of a future transit stop along the S-Line corridor connecting Raleigh to Virginia and Washington, DC. At the same time, downtown sits tucked away from major corridors, meaning visibility and first impressions hinge on intentional placemaking and walkability. Complicating matters, annexation agreement boundaries—unique within North Carolina—define a clear ultimate growth area for the community, creating pressure for downtown to absorb new development.

Wake Forest’s situation presented several complexities that demanded careful planning, communication, and tools that went beyond traditional planning documents. With the help of Esri partner Houseal Lavigne, Wake Forest planners developed an immersive, geographic information system (GIS)-driven 3D digital twin that gave residents the chance to see the future of downtown in a way that was clear, contextual, and grounded in the places they know.
 

After completing a community-wide plan and hearing ongoing public questions about height, density, and the character of future development, town planners knew that residents needed a way to see proposed change before it occurred. Concepts like density and building massing can be difficult to communicate, especially when they remain abstract and disconnected from familiar places. Compounding that challenge, the town had recently updated five community plans, leaving residents exhausted and overwhelmed from planning discussions.

Upcoming development projects made this challenge more urgent. Planners needed to balance new investment with Wake Forest’s historic identity, ensure mobility within a constrained street network, and prepare for the arrival of the S-Line passenger rail—a generational opportunity that would change how people access downtown.

Wake Forest’s physical environment added another layer of complexity. Significant grade changes—sometimes 20 to 25 feet within a few blocks—created challenges for building height transitions, pedestrian connectivity, and downtown accessibility.

In response, town leaders organized the Downtown Plan around four integrated components. The first focused on land use and urban design, identifying preferred development patterns, block structures, multimodal connections, and context-sensitive standards tailored to downtown’s unique conditions. The second centered on parking, analyzing how increased density, transit, and redevelopment would influence future supply and demand. The third component was a detailed market analysis that examined downtown’s long-term growth potential, evaluated whether the municipal service district should expand, and explored revenue opportunities tied to future development. Anchoring all three was an immersive 3D digital twin that served as both a decision-support and engagement tool, helping residents to understand common planning concepts like height, massing, view corridors, and pedestrian experiences long before any construction began.
 

Using ArcGIS Pro, the planning team performed a comprehensive analysis of downtown’s physical and economic landscape. This included mapping existing land uses, examining pedestrian and roadway networks, studying steep slopes and topographic transitions, assessing block sizes and walkability, analyzing property ownership, and identifying opportunities for adaptive reuse of existing structures. This analysis informed the creation of functional subareas across downtown and identified opportunity sites where development could deliver the greatest community benefit while maintaining downtown’s character. Civic and institutional areas, transition zones between industrial properties and mixed-use districts, and corridors with strong redevelopment potential were each identified to align with their respective roles in the community.

Planners also analyzed where new pedestrian and vehicular connections could strengthen the street network, where converting one-way streets back to two-way travel would enhance accessibility, and where road diets could increase safety and comfort for people walking or biking. This analysis informed recommendations for shifting block structures to support walkability and create a more cohesive, connected downtown experience—allowing people to move across downtown more comfortably without relying on a car for every trip.

The work also identified ways to improve the pedestrian experience and sense of safety. Together, the town’s mobility and complete streets strategy recommended improving street design, adding much-needed shade, and making downtown safer for pedestrians.
 

At the heart of the project was the immersive 3D digital model. Using ArcGIS CityEngine, planners developed a realistic 3D model and then integrated it into a gaming engine to support a more realistic, immersive public experience. The goal was not to predict architectural style or prescribe design aesthetics, but to focus community conversations on the actual planning issues that matter—height, setbacks, transitions, views, and the overall scale of future development.

To keep discussions centered on these issues, the team intentionally left out façade materials, window patterns, and other stylistic details that could distract from the bigger picture. The simplified model kept the public focused on evaluating real planning decisions rather than debating brick colors or design elements.

Residents interacting with the model could explore downtown from multiple perspectives. They could soar above downtown for a bird’s-eye view, walk the streets from a pedestrian perspective, and easily switch between existing conditions and various future scenarios. These views helped residents see how new development could integrate with existing buildings and what visual impacts this new development would have on downtown.

By making the scenarios tangible, the 3D digital twin helped address misconceptions about density, illustrated the importance of step-downs near historic structures, and revealed how utilizing elevation changes would soften the presence of taller buildings. Planning concepts that were previously understood by planning professionals are now clear to the public. This approach helped restore trust, reduce planning fatigue, and empower residents to influence the future of their downtown in meaningful ways.

As Wake Forest prepares for the arrival of the S-Line passenger rail, the model plays a critical role in exploring redevelopment opportunities near proposed station areas. By visualizing scenarios such as converting the former train depot parking lot into a mobility hub, planners could assess how mixed-use development, streetscape improvements, and pedestrian connections might link the future rail stop to the heart of downtown. The model ensured that residents clearly understood both the opportunities and implications of building scale, circulation, and parking long before the town embarked on major long-range investments.
 

Insights from the digital twin directly informed updates to the zoning code and Unified Development Ordinance. By the end of the process, Wake Forest had established clear development expectations across downtown’s functional subareas and shaped height and massing guidelines that respect the historic district’s character. The town identified priority pedestrian and vehicular connections to strengthen mobility and positioned itself strategically for the opportunities that will accompany the S-Line rail investment.

The resulting plan offers a realistic, iterative vision for the next 15 to 20 years of downtown’s evolution that is grounded in both data and community understanding. Most importantly, the immersive 3D digital twin reshaped public understanding of growth itself by turning abstract concepts into navigable experiences and fostering transparency, curiosity, and enthusiasm about the future.

As Wake Forest moves forward, the shared understanding developed through this process continues to guide decision-making. By using 3D GIS and an immersive digital twin, the town created a more informed, transparent planning process—one that helped residents understand change, evaluate future development, and shape the next era of Downtown Wake Forest together.