CIAUD stands out for its breadth, contributing towards territorial cohesion in Portugal. It is based in Lisbon, at the Lisbon School of Architecture of the Universidade de Lisboa, with hubs in Viana do Castelo, Porto, Covilhã, Castelo Branco and in the Algarve.

CIAUD integrates hubs that are research groups and hubs that are administrative structures, integrating researchers from diverse research groups, according to their focus. Researchers of the hubs are full members at CIAUD, with space to leverage R&D and postgraduate studies in their regions and host institutions.