As digitization accelerates and artificial intelligence becomes more widely adopted, data centers are gaining importance for spatial planning. As energy- and space-intensive facilities, they shape urban form, influence infrastructure systems, and affect progress toward sustainability goals, while also being classified as critical infrastructures. Recent changes in national policy and shifts in European market dynamics point to a targeted expansion of data-center capacities in Austria, placing new coordination and steering responsibilities on spatial planning.
Within the transfer format initiated by the Academy for Spatial Development in the Leibniz Association (ARL), the Research Unit Local Planning examines the growing challenges of planning for data centres. Key themes include competition for land, integration into energy and heating networks, the resilience of digital infrastructures, and impacts on existing spatial structures.
The interdisciplinary format brings together 12 researchers from Germany, Switzerland, Austria and Luxembourg. Through workshops and dialogue with operators and planning practitioners, the team develops actionable recommendations for a sustainable, resilient and spatially compatible development of digital infrastructures in the D-A-CH region. The transfer format contributes to the ARL mission "Planning Sustainable Infrastructures".
Duration: December 2025 – July 2027
Funding: ARL – Academy for Spatial Development in the Leibniz Association
Contact person ifoer: Dr. Emilia M. Bruck
For more information, visit the project website, opens an external URL in a new window.