The Design and Decision Support Systems research program focuses on planning, development and management of cities and large-scale urban artefacts such as malls, green spaces and offices.

Developing design and decision support solutions for architecture and urban planning challenges

As a result of processes becoming increasingly complex in recent years, integrated solutions to architectural and urban planning and design challenges, such as the development of smart cities, need to be assessed from multiple perspectives. Existing models and tools often fail to meet this requirement. The aim of the DDSS research program is to develop groundbreaking design and decision support systems that focus on particular types of design and planning problems in architecture and urban planning. The main objective of the DDSS research program is to conduct Innovative academically rigorous research, which is of practical relevance.

To that end, three groups participate in the research program: Information Systems in the Built Environment, Urban Planning Group and Real Estate Management and Development. Cross-fertilization between different age groups and disciplines is deemed essential to advancing DDSS research. The focus of the projects is to

• Develop groundbreaking, innovative models and design and decision-support systems for specific applications in architecture and urban planning.
• Disseminate such progress to practice.
• Develop specialized knowledge about user responses to changes in their environment that can be applied to issues currently important to society such as energy use, mobility, information technology, safety, climate change and sustainable urban development.

In addition to internal collaboration, DDSS is involved in several national and international research collaborations, with professional organizations and universities.