This working group is concerned with the factors influencing the planning and management of the landscape and open space infrastructure of towns and cities. These factors range from the geographic factors affecting the morphology of urban areas, the changing historic impacts of planning and development ideologies and the regulative effects of planning instruments and organisational structures. The landscape infrastructure of urban areas is composed of a variety of different open space types, the sum total of which can be viewed as an overall resource.
Different patterns and configurations of open space which go to make up different green and open space structures are a central consideration, as are the ways that the overall open space resource influences the wider planning process in urban areas. The relationships between inner urban open space and the surrounding landscape is another important issue.

- History and development of the urban open space resource
- Open space systems
- Urban habitats and habitat mapping
- Urban climatology
- Land reclamation and recycling
- Strategic management of open spaces
- Maintenance operations
- Planning legislation and regulations in urban areas