For Hybrid Mapping: A Methodological Intervention in Socio-Spatial Research. The Case of the Botanical Garden, Berlin

This paper makes the case for a novel approach to mapping in the field of socio-spatial research. We argue for the necessity of a new research method engaging interdisciplinary knowledge from across the social sciences and spatial design disciplines to grasp the hybrid, processual and relational character of spaces under change. Here, transformation is understood through the conceptual framework of the “re-figuration of spaces” which provides the social-theoretical foundation for our methodological intervention. Through the paper we propose four dimensions of hybridity, which we illustrate and discuss through the example of an ongoing research project studying the contemporary re-figuration of spaces at Berlin’s Botanical Garden. These dimensions are: the need for interdisciplinarity – hybrid knowledge; grasping the multiplicity and simultaneity of spatial figures – hybrid space; incorporating multimodal and mixed-methods data, such as textual, visual and numerical – hybrid data; reflections on the positionality of the map makers in iterative research processes – modus operandi. We conclude by reflecting on the ramifications of hybrid mapping and situate it in a broader theoretical discourse.