This area of expertise focuses on the sustainable and resource-conserving planning and design of living and economic spaces, buildings, and infrastructures as well as protection against natural hazards. Research covers the areas of protection and development of natural and cultural landscapes, recording, planning, and design of urban, suburban, small-town, and rural living spaces and the necessary infrastructures. This field of expertise deals with the systemic relationships between space, landscape, buildings, and infrastructures as well as the socio-economic processes involved in their creation. 

Important research areas include nature conservation, land use, water bodies, recreational and leisure uses, mobility, landscape planning and landscape architecture, spatial planning including spatial energy planning and environmental planning, integrative water management, construction technology, resource-efficient and sustainable planning, construction and maintenance of buildings and infrastructure including soil management, residual material and waste management, earth observation, and protection against natural hazards. 

Future research priorities include climate protection, climate impact assessment, and climate change adaptation, biodiversity conservation, innovative and transdisciplinary research and planning processes, natural hazard analyses and risk management, spatial, technical, and social aspects of the energy transition and the water-energy-food nexus, digitalization and automation of transport and logistics, digital and automated planning including life cycle analyses, management, construction and maintenance of buildings and civil engineering structures with the application of AI-based solutions, as well as the development of innovative nature-based green-blue infrastructures.