What Is Published as International Comparative Planning Research in Academic Journals?

In the context of increasing international cooperation in the field of spatial planning, comparative planning research now seems to hold a firm place. Yet, in recent decades there has been limited reflection in the planning research community on the theoretical and methodological implications of undertaking meaningful cross-national comparative research. This chapter presents an analysis of published journal articles on international comparisons in the field of spatial planning. The focus of analysis was on identifying researchers’ rationale for undertaking planning research in an international comparative perspective, their chosen theoretical framings and methodological approaches. For much of the published research reviewed, the chapter finds that considerations about the validity of their research designs and the reliability of findings generated through comparison are at best implicit, and that this weakens the explanatory value of international comparative planning research.