Tracing as comparative method

Abstract

Urban scholarship is bursting with comparison. We use comparison as an explicit and implicit tool to frame our urban analysis. But how do we actually do comparison? This commentary presents a fine-tuned analysis of ‘tracing’ as both a conceptual framework and a methodological process for doing comparative urbanism. It draws on the many excellent contributions in this special issue to argue for three methodological approaches to tracing – following the trace, the people doing the tracing and the pathways of tracing – adding reflections that are not only theoretically valuable but also practically useful. In concluding, I argue that this approach of tracing highlights the endless possibilities for thoughtful and productive comparison starting from everywhere and ending up anywhere.