On behalf of the local organizing committee it is our great pleasure to invite you to the International Land Use Symposium on “Spatial data modelling and visualisation to enlighten sustainable policy making”, to be held November 1-3 2017, in Dresden, capital of the German federal state of Saxony. The International Symposium brings together leading academics and interested attendees for presentation, discussion, and collaborative networking in the fields of spatial sciences, environmental studies, geography, cartography, GIScience, urban planning, architecture, which relate to investigations of settlements and infrastructure. In particular, the interdisciplinary meeting will examine new ideas in overlapping fields of studies with the goal of advancing our understanding of built-up areas, and how recent developments in spatial analysis and modeling can lead to sustainable resource management, better support of planning and regional development, enhanced spatial information and knowledge, and optimized strategies, instruments and tools.