Design Case Studies

“What If Urban Trees Could Talk?”

This initiative was part of an EKA IxD Service Design project, undertaken in collaboration with Tallinn’s Strategic Office. 

It focused on preserving urban trees by harnessing Tallinn’s Digital Twin: an evolving virtual model of the city that can display and predict various aspects of urban life.

Together with my fellow students from the IxD.ma master’s program we interviewed architects, landscape architects, and city planners to understand how data gaps and collaboration shortfalls led to avoidable root damage and missed opportunities in green-space management.

The Challenge

Urban trees are frequently at risk during building projects. Roots are damaged by digging, new pipes get placed too close to trunks, and crucial green infrastructure can be overlooked. Existing data on underground networks and tree-growth patterns was scattered. City departments, landscape architects, and contractors needed a common platform to see all this information at once.

Our Approach

Interviews & Insights:

We spoke with architects, landscape architects, and city planners to understand their workflow challenges.

Digital Twin Integration:

The Digital Twin let us simulate how trees grow above and below ground. This helped in visualizing future canopies and root systems.

User Journeys:

 We mapped out the steps each professional (and city official) would take, ensuring that permit approvals and construction planning always included tree-preservation data.

Key Results

Informed Decisions:

With reliable simulations, city officials can issue building permits that consider a tree’s future growth.

Collaboration:

Multiple departments access the same data, reducing errors and saving time.

Tree Preservation:

Contractors know exactly where pipes and cables should go, minimizing harm to root systems.

Outcome

By proactively studying how trees grow, we can avoid damaging them during construction, saving both money and the city’s natural canopy. The project underscores that strategic data-sharing leads to better urban planning and helps keep our green spaces alive and flourishing.