Continuing urbanisation is a phenomenon or characteristic in many parts of the world. Cities generate more than 70% of CO2 emissions, which means that the choices made by city residents (or their leadership) will affect both the residents themselves and the planet as a whole. As is well known, urban residents generally do not decide on the use of building materials in cities, which to some extent is the reason for the dominance of concrete and steel.

To make life easier for residents and decision-makers and to steer their thinking towards sustainable urban development, Architectural Democracy, Metsä Wood, and Accenture Interactive have agreed to collaborate on the creation of a digital tool called Decisions.city.

The core idea behind Architectural Democracy is a desire to move away from opaque urban planning principles, making the process clearer and more understandable. It is clear that there will be no perfect ratios for the use of building materials (how much wood should be in a city, how much concrete, how much steel, how much of anything else...), but... by not involving residents (the voices of the public) in the discussion and evaluation process, the usual path of using traditional, high-emission materials will likely continue.