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Home / Built Environment, Volume 30, Number 1

The Multicultural City and the Politics of Religious Architecture: Urban Planning, Mosques and Meaning-Making in Birmingham, UK

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Author: Gale, Richard

Source: Built Environment, Volume 30, Number 1, 1 March 2004, pp. 30-44(15)

Publisher: Alexandrine Press

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2148/benv.30.1.30.54320

A corollary of the development of Muslim communities in Britain has been a steady growth in the quantitative and aesthetic presence of mosques within British urban landscapes. Applications to develop these buildings have frequently given rise to forms of aesthetic contestation that are embedded in processes of identity construction amongst non-Muslims. However, only cursory reference has been made in academic studies to the role played by urban planning in framing this contestation. Taking three mosque proposals in Birmingham as case studies, this paper assesses the extent to which urban planning processes condense and mediate the relations between social groups. In addition, the paper explores the changing emphases of the City Council's planning policies relating to places of worship, as these have shifted from restriction to multicultural ‘celebration’.

Document Type: Research Article

Publication date: 01 March 2004

More about this publication?

  • Built Environment is published quarterly in March, June, September and December. With an emphasis on crossing disciplinary boundaries and providing global perspective, each issue focuses on a single subject of contemporary interest to practitioners, academics and students working in a wide range of disciplines. Issues are guest-edited by established international experts who not only commission contributions, but also oversee the peer-reviewing process in collaboration with the Editors.

    Subject areas include: architecture; conservation; economic development; environmental planning; health; housing; regeneration; social issues; spatial planning; sustainability; urban design; and transport. All issues include reviews of recent publications.

    The journal is abstracted in Geo Abstracts, Sage Urban Studies Abstracts, and Journal of Planning Literature, and is indexed in the Avery Index to Architectural Publications.

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