TreeCity: Paradigm hosts the European project consortium to develop a new generation of urban planning tools
From 9 to 11 June 2026, Paradigm hosted the TreeCity project partners in Brussels for three days of workshops, strategic discussions and pilot tests focusing on an often-overlooked issue: the impact of tree roots on urban infrastructure.
Paradigm, alongside several European academic and technological partners, is developing an innovative solution: TreeCity. This tool is capable of modelling root systems in 3D to simulate interactions between trees, roads and underground networks even before the first spade is put in the ground. Ultimately, this approach will help enrich urban digital twins by incorporating tree roots, a component that has hitherto been invisible.
Held at the Iris Tower and BeCentral, this working week brought together teams from Brussels, Tallinn and Helsinki to discuss several topics:
- the technical progress of the project,
- implementation scenarios in different urban environments,
- data management tools,
- as well as the first prototyping workshops based on artificial intelligence.
The highlight was the pilot event on 11 June, bringing together researchers, experts and potential users from Brussels to discuss the preservation of tree heritage, climate resilience and sustainable urban planning.
Ultimately, TreeCity will enable urban managers to explore different scenarios for the interaction between roots, roads and underground networks in order to inform planning decisions. The project will also contribute to the development of more comprehensive urban digital twins, integrating both infrastructure and living elements.
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Launched in January 2026 and scheduled to run until December 2027, TreeCity is one External linkof the winning projects of External linkthe 2024 Smart City Challenge organised by the FinEst Centre for Smart Cities in Tallinn. The consortium brings together Paradigm, External linkTalTech (Tallinn University of Technology), External linkthe University of Liège (External link GeoScITY ), External linkGreenTwin.ai and External linkFARI – AI for the Common Good Institute (ULB/VUB).
The project is funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the Estonian Ministry of Education and Research as part of the External linkFinEst Centre for Smart Cities pilot programme.
Further information:External link External linkhttps://finestcentre.eu/project-pilot/treecity
External linkRead the full press release.
