Planning Ethnographies: Reflecting on the Potentials and Challenges of Ethnographic Methods in Planning Research

Ethnographic methods are widely used in many social sciences, as they represent a unique way for researchers to immerse themselves into the lived reality of their objects of study. By studying phenomena in their real life context, ethnographies reveal relationships, practices, and behaviours that other research methods might overlook and thus might more accurately capture the complexities encountered in the organization of society.

In the field of urban and regional planning, ethnographic methods can provide crucial insights into issues such as the interplay of agency and structure in the creation of planning policies, the daily routines of politicians, planners, and citizens, or the effects of changes in the built environment on the lives of specific groups. Despite their significant potential to provide unique insights into the complicated, emotional, cultural, social, and human dimensions of planning, ethnographic methods have to date only been sporadically used in planning research.

This thematic issue aims to provide insights into different ethnographic approaches used in planning research and other fields shaping the built environment. Contributions to the thematic issue might present specific cases but each article should include an in-depth methodological reflection. These methodological reflections are intended to discuss the scientific and practical reasoning behind the chosen method(s), the practical steps of data collection and analysis, the potentials for novel insights originating from the chosen method(s), the practical, ethical, and conceptual challenges faced during implementation and analysis, as well as the skills required and acquired by researchers when conducting the research. By discussing these aspects, the thematic issue strives to be a useful resource for planning researchers and to support the inclusion of ethnography-based methods in their methodological toolkits.

In the selection of contributions to the thematic issue, specific attention will be paid to the inclusion of a diverse set of methods (e.g. observation, shadowing, narrative interviews, diaries, digital ethnography, and visual and sensory methods) and objects of study (e.g., elite and marginalized actors). The thematic issue will also highlight the field-specific challenges associated with ethnographic research, for example the highly political and sometimes sensitive nature of negotiations and planning decisions, and the needed strategies for trust building between researchers and study participants. Here, attention will be paid to the activist potential for ethnography to empower and transform the lives of those studied, e.g., through participant-led approaches. Not least, the thematic issue aims to discuss the potential challenges of ethnography-based research to fit into standardized publishing formats like journal articles. Contributions with unconventional, radical, and artistic styles of writing and narrating are therefore especially welcome when these stylistic choices support the value and reach of the ethnography.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Urban Planning is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.