Conceptualizing Hybrid Spaces: A Relational Spatial Framework for Understanding Digital–Physical Entanglements

Hybrid spaces – spatial figurations in which physical and digital dimensions are interwoven – remain conceptually fragmented across disciplines. Drawing on Martina Löw’s relational spatial theory and employing a theory synthesis approach, this paper integrates diverse strands of research on hybrid spaces into a coherent framework. Four interdependent dimensions – physicality, virtuality, sociality and temporality – are used to conceptualize how hybrid spaces are constituted through processes of spacing and synthesis. These dimensions are not additive layers but emerge through situated social practices, producing varying degrees of hybridity that can be described along a spectrum. The concepts of translocalization and polycontexturalization are further integrated to capture how individuals integrate distant, overlapping and temporally dispersed contexts into present spatial arrangements. The resulting framework offers a coherent conceptualization of hybrid spaces, bridging fragmented literature and providing analytical tools for future empirical research on spatial and societal change in the digital age.