Research Area Spatial Information and Modelling

In the Research Area Spatial Information and Modelling, data-intensive and data-integrating approaches are developed and used to record, describe, and evaluate status quo and trends in settlement and open space development as well as processes of sustainability transformation on a multiscale and high-resolution basis. Based on this, projections and scenarios using geomodeling and (geo)simulation methods are developed. In the context of knowledge transfer and networking, the established "Monitor of Settlement and Open Space Development" will be developed into a research data centre and operated as part of a national (NFDI) and European (EOSC) research data infrastructure.

Our central research questions are:

• How can digital information bases, knowledge and tools be developed for transformative urban and regional development?
• Which spatial characteristics, patterns, cause-effect relationships and trends in settlement and open space development can be elaborated and evaluated against the background of sustainability transformation as basis for scenario-based forecasts?
• How can the research results be visualized in a comprehensible way within the framework of a research data center, and how can the knowledge be prepared in a way that is suitable for policy-makers, society and science?