CityRoots.ai

Landing Page
Proposals Page
Crypto Wallet Account Page
Voting Page
Dashboard Page
Map with AI Agent Chat

Inspiration

Growing cities often come at the cost of parks and trees, which are essential for clean air, community health, and quality of life. We wanted to create a tool that not only informs residents about the impact of proposed developments on their green spaces but also empowers them to participate in decisions that shape their neighborhoods. The inspiration came from witnessing communities losing green cover without clear insight into how it affects local health, air quality, and wellbeing.

What it does

CityRoots.ai allows users to:

Explore park proposals: See any proposed changes to local parks before they happen.
Understand environmental impact: Visualize greenery using NDVI and air pollution using PM2.5 data.
Make informed decisions: Residents can see exactly how changes might impact their neighborhood, powered by AI Agent Gemini API which calculates NDVI and PM2.5 metrics.
Engage with the community: Vote on proposals securely using a Ethereum Sepolia wallet, with transparency and anti-duplication measures.

In short, it bridges data-driven insight with community engagement to help shape healthier, greener cities.

How we built it

Frontend: React with Material-UI for a responsive, clean, and consistent web interface and smooth chat experience.
Data & Maps: PostgreSQL + PostGIS stores park polygons, handles spatial queries, powers interactive maps, and stores all proposal results reliably.
Chatbot & AI-Agent: LangChain agents answer questions about park size, population impact, NDVI, and PM2.5, powered by Gemini API for real-time environmental impact calculations.
Blockchain & Identity: Ethereum network (Sepolia testnet) and wallet integration for secure, tamper-evident voting.
Smart Contracts: Solidity contracts manage proposal creation, vote recording, and reward distribution.

Challenges we ran into

Data integration: Combining NDVI satellite data with PM2.5 measurements and park boundaries was tricky.
Blockchain adoption: Ensuring users could easily sign in with Ethereum wallets without friction.
Duplicate prevention: Implementing light location checks without compromising privacy.
Real-time insights: Optimizing queries so NDVI and PM2.5 calculations update quickly on interactive maps.

Accomplishments that we are proud of

Built a full-stack platform integrating geospatial data, AI chatbots and blockchain.
Made environmental impact transparent and understandable for everyday residents.
Enabled secure, verifiable community voting that encourages civic engagement.

What we learned

Numbers alone are not enough for the users, they respond well to visual and interactive insights.
AI-Agent and Gemini API (MCP) make complex environmental metrics understandable, helping residents make informed, data-driven decisions easily
Blockchain can enhance trust in civic applications when implemented intuitively.
Combining multiple data layers (NDVI, PM2.5, population) requires careful normalization and caching for performance.
Civic engagement increases when residents can see the real-world impact of their decisions.

What's next for CityRoots.ai

Expand to include more environmental metrics such as noise pollution, tree canopy density, and water retention.
Integrate predictive modeling to show future scenarios if parks are removed or expanded.
Partner with municipalities and NGOs to scale adoption and improve urban planning decisions.
Launch mobile apps for on-the-go interaction and real-time proposal alerts.