PLANH stands for the Planning and Housing research group at the University of Lausanne, based at the Institute of Geography and Sustainability. We are an interdisciplinary team of researchers working on spatial planning and urban studies, human geography, economics, political science, international relations, and architecture.
From the PLANH perspective, unsustainable spatial outcomes, such as segregation or urban sprawl, do not arise spontaneously. Rather, they are the result of deliberate choices made by actors who decide what to do, when, where, and how. Social actions are always purposeful and have concrete effects on spatial development. Our goal is to better understand these actions, their motivations, and their consequences.
The group is established in August 2025.
From the PLANH perspective, unsustainable spatial outcomes, such as segregation or urban sprawl, do not arise spontaneously. Rather, they are the result of deliberate choices made by actors who decide what to do, when, where, and how. Social actions are always purposeful and have concrete effects on spatial development. Our goal is to better understand these actions, their motivations, and their consequences.
To achieve this, we employ a wide range of empirical and mixed-methods approaches. Our research examines who has the power to make decisions, who does not, under which institutional, political, economic, and sociocultural conditions, and which strategies actors use to pursue their goals.
Finally, what’s PLANH’s unique selling point (USP)? We do not only identify complex resource-use situations, we explain them. Rather than merely analyzing or criticizing spatial and urban development at a meta level, we focus on the concrete dynamics of resource use, implementation processes, and outcomes. We investigate the actors involved in land-use and housing decisions, assess their strategies, and analyze the policies, laws, and rules that shape these processes, always with a strong focus on sustainability implications.
To learn more about PLANH’s research perspective as well as our empirical and methodological approaches, please consult our introductory presentation (PDF).
Latest updates, events, conferences, …