• Explore the diversified nature of contemporary urban environments under the integrated and pluridisciplinary umbrella provided by the sustainability concept.
• Encourage a closer co-operation and co-ordination of different research groups to increase the efficiency of and promote the quality of the overall research output.
• Promote synergies and build research bridges between:

• the investigation of the spatial dynamics of urban and metropolitan areas.
• the organisation, planning and management of transport systems.
• the application of traffic management systems to optimise safety, efficiency and the environmental performance of road networks.
• the understanding of the territorial dimension of competitiveness in urban and metropolitan areas.
• the development of housing policies in articulation with spatial and social inclusion strategies.
• the development of tools and indicators to assess the real consequences of the above on the current levels of citizen's quality of life.

Research Units:

• Planning & Environmental Assessment

Scope & Objectives:
• Planning policies for sustainable urban environments
• Planning Systems and Environmental Policies in the EU EIA, SEA and the Planning Process

• Urban Planning & Housing

This research unit has two main objectives:

• To explore the changing role of urban policies and institutions in face of the new challenges of spatial restructuring and policy coordination;
• To develop new tools for urban policy evaluation.

In order to meet these objectives, the research is focused on two main issues:

• Urban policies and new forms of governance
• Criteria for urban policy evaluation

• Transport Planning & Logistics

Scope & Objectives:
• Transport Organization
• Transport Planning
• Management of Transport Systems
• Urban Logistics