The delicate search for language in spaces

Multilingualism comes to the fore in most European metropolitan areas as a common characteristic. The dimensions of multilingualism are manifold and each of them constitutes itself rather unpredictably in a certain spatial setting. The interplay between the specifics of urban space and language are hardly explored from a sociological view. In urban sociology it is important to know how exactly a particular space appeals to multilingualism or vice versa and under which conditions and causes space and language intertwine. The explorative study at hand makes an attempt for a methodological framework uniting linguistic landscaping, usage structures, and qualitative interviews. We argue here that linguistic landscaping and usage structures would at least support the design of the interview. In a best-case scenario, however, they enable us to carry out a large-scale investigation.