The Institute's membership is drawn from academic staff, researchers and research students with interests in cities and their regions from across the University of Dundee, but with a concentration of staff from the School of the Environment.

Its three directors, Professor Nicholas Fyfe (Geography), Dr. Lorens Holm (Architecture), Barbara Illsley (Planning), represent the three disciplinary groupings within the School. The Geddes Institute has links with other research groups within the University including the Centre for Environmental Change and Human Resilience (CECHR), the Social Dimensions of Health Institute (SDHI), and the Scottish Institute for Policing Research (SIPR).