Researching urban space and the built environment

Book excerpt: Researching urban space and the built environment is an accessible guide for historians keen to explore the spatial dimensions of the past. Written in a clear and lively style, it equips readers with the tools to effectively plan, research and write innovative spatial histories. By outlining and summarizing the theories and methodologies particularly pertinent to spatial research, and by providing hands-on advice on locating evidence and archives, the book supports researchers in the development of their own original projects. Through engagement with a rich array of primary evidence and useful historiographical case-studies, the guide opens up a huge variety of research possibilities. This book is the ideal research companion for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as independent researchers. It is especially tailored for students in history and related disciplines in the humanities encountering spatial themes and methodologies for the first time.