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

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'.