ABSTRACT
Case studies are widely used in landscape architectural research. They are ideally suited to the investigation of complex phenomena such as designed landscapes, which are the focus of the discipline. However, the way landscape architecture researchers typically select and undertake case studies is also a limitation to achieving greater practice, policy and scientific relevance for the outcomes of our research. The objective of this chapter is to explain the methodological rationale for case studies and the implications of this for the selection and treatment of cases in landscape architecture. The central question that I ask is how can researchers in landscape architecture use case studies in order to enhance our discipline's knowledge base? In particular, I focus upon the use of cases as research tools, rather than educational or professional exemplars. I aim to demonstrate that a more theoretically informed selection of case studies could sharpen the way landscape architecture researchers shape and answer their research questions, strengthen their contribution to the theory of the discipline, and hence improve the quality of their design and planning practice and contribution to wider debates over policy. These are all fundamental to ensuring the future relevance of landscape architecture.
