BIODENCITY: Reversing Biodiversity Decline in Densification Strategies using Innovative Sensing, Systemic Solutions and Data Driven City modelling for Transformative Change.
Current status Ongoing (January 2026 / December 2028)
Funding programme BIODIVERSA, BiodivTransform 2024-2025
Project budget M€ 1, 199.706 (Labsimurb budget € 149.975,00)
Keywords urban densification, urban biodiversity, green infrastructure, urban planning, biodiversity monitoring
Project Overview
Objective
BIODENCITY aims to develop a roadmap for biodiversity-sensitive urban densification, demonstrating that density and biodiversity are not opposing goals. The project seeks to generate robust scientific evidence on how urban form and green infrastructure influence biodiversity across different European contexts, and to translate this knowledge into practical tools for urban planning and policy. Through open-access datasets, interactive maps, AI-based biodiversity monitoring systems and design guidelines, BIODENCITY supports cities in integrating biodiversity considerations into planning, design and decision-making processes. In doing so, the project contributes to healthier, more climate-resilient urban environments and supports the implementation of European biodiversity and nature restoration policies.
Context
Urban densification is widely promoted as a sustainable strategy to reduce land take, emissions and infrastructure costs. However, compact city models often overlook their ecological consequences, contributing to habitat loss and biodiversity decline within urban areas. At the same time, cities can host significant biological richness and offer opportunities to support both human wellbeing and nature if designed appropriately. BIODENCITY addresses this challenge by asking how urban densification and greening can be combined to halt and reverse biodiversity loss while improving quality of life in cities. Focusing on microorganisms, insects, birds and bats as indicators of ecosystem health, the project explores how dense urban environments can become places where people and nature coexist and thrive.
What – Main activities
BIODENCITY combines ecological research, digital innovation and participatory approaches across four European cities (Tampere, Gothenburg, Amsterdam and Milan). The project maps urban density and green infrastructure patterns and links them to biodiversity outcomes using advanced geospatial analysis and AI-enabled sensing technologies, including acoustic, visual and microbial monitoring. Living Biodiversity Labs are established as real-world testing environments where researchers, planners, policymakers and citizens co-design and assess biodiversity-friendly densification scenarios. Stakeholder engagement, citizen science activities and policy dialogues ensure that scientific results are translated into actionable guidance. Project outcomes are disseminated through open-access publications, interactive tools, training activities and a transnational community of practice, enabling knowledge transfer and supporting uptake by cities across Europe and beyond.
At the core of the project are four Living Biodevirsity Labs (LBLs) across Europe, co-created with municipalities, researchers, businesses, and citizens:
Frontrunner cities
Netherlands (Amsterdam)
Italy (Milan)
Follower cities
Finland (Tampere)
Sweden (Gothenburg)
Who
Led by Chalmers University of Technology, SMoG
Principal Investigator: Prof. Meta Ponthauser
Partners:
- Chalmers University of Technology, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Gothenburg, Sweden
- Politecnico di Milano, Department of Architecture and Urban Studies, Milan, Italy
- Delft University of Technology, Department of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft, the Netherlands
- AMS Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, the Netherlands
- Tampere University, Faculty of the Built Environment, Tampere, Finland
- Municipality of Milan, Italy
- City of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Dastu Team: Eugenio Morello, Luca Lazzarini, Doruntina Zendeli
Research Structure: Laboratorio di Simulazione Urbana Fausto Curti
Co-funded by te European Union under the BiodivTransform 2024-2025 Call.