Sensing & monitoring
Ground and UAV-based low-cost sensing complemented with high-end reference measurements.
About the project
Planning the Future: Expanding Europe’s Tree Canopy
Urban ElemenTREE explores how trees interact with their urban environments, and turns advanced research into actionable tools and guidance for planners, decision-makers and communities.
Cities
5
Urban Living Labs across Europe
Focus
Urban trees
Microclimate, air quality & wellbeing
Approach
Evidence-based
Data, sensing & simulations
Scale
Neighbourhoods
From sites to city systems
Planting more trees in urban areas is a promising intervention for environmental improvement and for providing ecosystem services. However, it faces many limitations related to the scarcity of space, high costs, and the often challenging conditions reducing the longevity of trees. Moreover, inconsiderate tree planting might produce unwanted effects. Therefore, urban decision makers, planners, and other stakeholders are in need of tools supporting evidence-based urban greening strategies. Urban ElemenTREE aims to advance more sustainable tree planting in cities, for more regenerative urban neighbourhoods, by formulating a systematic, integrated, evidence-based approach for the smart development of the urban tree canopy.
Urban ElemenTREE aims to make it more accessible and efficient to study the tree–environment interaction as a basis for more tailored tree planting.
Urban ElemenTREE takes the latest promising, yet fragmented research on urban trees, including the considerations of air pollution, wind risk, lighting conditions, heat stress, or contamination, and translates it into actionable guidance for stakeholders, planners, and decision-makers. A variety of emerging methods and novel techniques is applied (ground- and UAV-based low-cost sensing, performance-driven simulations, street-view-based estimations, etc.), supported by spatial and landscape analysis and citizen science, and benchmarked against high-end methods (laboratory analyses, high-resolution LiDAR and high-end simulations) to improve their reliability.
Transdisciplinary research is bridged with innovation and practical solutions for policy-making, planning, and design processes, harnessing the power of digitisation.
Why focus on trees?
Urban trees regulate microclimates, improve air quality, support biodiversity and create more liveable public spaces — but they also face stress, damage and competing demands.
- Microclimate and heat stress
- Air quality and pollution
- Wind exposure and risk
- Soil and water conditions
What Urban ElemenTREE does
- Collects and compares cross-city data on urban trees.
- Develops new methods for sensing and modelling.
- Builds digital tools for planners and practitioners.
- Tests solutions in five Urban Living Labs.
How we work
The project connects universities, cities, NGOs and local actors. Research is co-created with practitioners, and results are translated into guidance, platforms and open resources.
Methods & innovation
Urban ElemenTREE combines emerging technologies with established scientific methods to deliver robust yet practical knowledge and tools.
Simulations & modelling
Performance-driven simulations of airflow, microclimate, lighting and pollutant dispersion.
Spatial & landscape analysis
GIS-based and landscape-scale assessments of tree canopies and green networks.
Citizen science & co-creation
Engaging residents, practitioners and stakeholders in data collection and scenario building.
From research to real cities
Results are tested and refined in five Urban Living Labs, where researchers work side-by-side with city administrations and local stakeholders.