Methodologically Grasping Social Processes in Urban Environments. Mixing Visual Methods with Other Methods in Process-Oriented Micro-Macro-Analysis

Urbanization and related social processes – such as climate change, massive migration of people, economic and geo-political crises and changes in the capacity to sustain ecosystem services – as well as the related increasing uncertainty are long-term social processes which often take place on the macro-level. These processes both change and are driven by micro-level interactions of humans with their urban environments. In order to fully grasp these complex interactions, a process-oriented micro-macro-analysis is needed. The paper discusses how various types of visual methods can contribute to grasp those micro-level interactions. At the same time, the paper shows that in order to fully understand the interaction between the macro- and micro-level in urban research, it is necessary to mix visual methods with other methods such as quantitative methods and historical methods. The paper concludes with methodological issues that need to be resolved in future research.