The Klaus Novy Institut was founded in 1983 as a non-profit research association with charitable status.
All staff are members of the association and participate equally in decision-making.
The work of the institute in the early years focused on urban history, in particular the history of housing reform and the co-operative housing movement. The research areas soon extended to include contemporary issues in urban and housing research. Links to practice have been consolidated by housing project development activities and by the monitoring and evaluation of pilot project programmes. Another field of research has been established in regional economic studies on ecological issues, with a particular emphasis on small enterprises in the sectors of environmentally-friendly goods and services. The dissemination of research findings is ensured through specialist conferences and exhibitions.