Local digital twins hold transformative potential for urban governance, enhancing citizen participation in the digital realm. Current challenges involve integrating citizen input into both designing and using these systems, navigating complex social and technical barriers, and ensuring technology doesn’t impose limitations on inclusive governance. The solution involves applying participatory design frameworks like SCOT, TOE, and TAM to ensure digital twins are developed with citizen involvement, promoting equity, fairness, and transparency. These methodologies guide participation through various design stages, ensuring technology adoption aligns with citizen needs and reinforces democratic principles. This learning unit delves into the role of citizens in local digital twins, examining participatory methodologies during design and use stages. It focuses on enabling cooperative urban planning through digital twins, addressing barriers to participation, and showcasing case studies demonstrating effective citizen engagement practices and their impact on urban governance.