Webinar: The Potential of Digital Vegetation in the Design of Sustainable and Biodiversity-Rich Cities

Urbanization causes pressures on cities to densify and adapt, often at the expense of green spaces and ecological balance. Green infrastructure provides critical Ecosystem Services—such as climate regulation, mental well-being, and biodiversity support—yet these benefits are often difficult to quantify and integrate into urban planning. As a result, green areas are frequently sacrificed for the development of new land uses, such as buildings or transport infrastructure, causing environmental and social challenges.

Digital vegetation offers a transformative solution. Detailed, data-driven 3D models of urban greenery, integrated into urban planning tools and digital twins, enable planners to analyze, visualize, and discuss urban design for ecological sustainability, climate resilience, and citizen wellbeing. By, for example, quantifying Ecosystem Service provision across urban spaces and allowing these insights to be merged into planning tools and metrics, digital vegetation bridges the gap between ecological knowledge and urban design, empowering cities to balance infrastructure and biodiversity.

This webinar provides an overview of current advancements and future directions in digital vegetation, demonstrating its potential to create sustainable, biodiversity-rich cities. Remote sensing and deep learning identify plant species and distributions, while AI-based algorithms create realistic 3D vegetation visualizations. Participatory planning and citizen science tools further refine these models by incorporating stakeholder input. Advanced simulations allow planners to predict vegetation growth and test climate resilience strategies.

Digital vegetation will support urban planners in integrating greenery into infrastructure more seamlessly and using diverse sets of species and nature-based solutions in urban designs.

Speaker: Dr. Henna Fabritius works as a Senior Researcher at the FinEst Centre of Smart Cities, Tallinn University of Technology. 

The webinar is free of charge. Organizer will share the webinar recording after the event with all registrees.

More info: aaltoee.fi