About us

Land is an asset. Land is scarce. Land is fragile. These three statements reflect the basic relationships of humankind to land: social, economic and environmental. They also describe the urgency of planning problems, as the demand for services provided by land is dramatically increasing. The goal of the Institute for Spatial Planning and Landscape Development is to understand the growing complexity of the interactions between these three organising principles and to develop new approaches that balance them in order to insure the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. This requires (1) the knowledge of adequate planning methods, processes, and instruments and the proficient implementation thereof, (2) the development of regional action-oriented development, adaptation and mitigation strategies, and (3) an increased link between spatial planning science and meaningful collaborative engagement with social actors to help our society make the best possible choices and ensure an economically prosperous and environmentally sustainable future.