CHE represents UPLB in The APRU Sustainable Cities and Landscape Research Hub which has been set up in response to increasing concerns about the sustainability of cities due to rapid urbanization and population growth worldwide. As a consequence, sustainability is becoming a key issue for urban planners, civil engineers, and design professionals.

The demand for more environmentally responsive cities grows while modern society becomes more and more dependent on the use of energy and new technologies in nearly every aspect of life. Urbanization has a major impact on the environment and influences landscapes to a great extent beyond the city boundaries through increasing air temperatures, shifting water cycles, and ecological processes. Urban and landscape sustainability go hand-in-hand, and it is not possible to understand one without understanding the interdependencies between cities and their surroundings.