Research institutions in Sweden and Denmark will work with five ‘case areas’ in a crossdiciplinary manner. A vital concept is ‘the sound settlement’, which represents a holistic view on dwellings, places of work, services, recreation and a sustainable infrastructure. An interdisciplinary research group with Danish and Swedish researchers will co-operate with local politicians, officials, architects and planners, companies and citizens in order to develop new knowledge that can be transformed into local action plans and conceptual proposals for settlements.