Religiously inspired urbanism: Catholicism and the planning of the southern Dutch provincial cities Eindhoven and Roermond,c. 1900 to 1960

The discourse on twentieth-century urban planning has hidden from view the way religion (re)shaped the urban landscape. By analysing the interaction between urban development and Catholic politics in the southern Dutch provincial cities of Eindhoven and Roermond, this article argues that religious thinking, practice and institutions had considerable influence on urban planning. Religious views and ideas played an important role in the spatial transformation of these towns. The secular instruments of urban planning were used during the ‘pillarization’ period to emphasize thesensus catholicusof town and region, and to achieve the desired Catholic social and moral order.