Representing the City: Mosques and the Planning Process in Birmingham

Abstract

There has been very little research into the effects of urban planning policy and practice upon religious groups amongst the South Asian diaspora in Britain. This paper attempts to make up some of this shortfall by examining the role of urban planning procedure in regulating the location, architectural form and use by Muslims of mosques and religious education establishments in Britain. Birmingham, in the West Midlands, provides the empirical focus. The paper has two parts. The first part is historical and traces the modes of interaction between mosque committees in the city and the local planning authority, focusing principally upon the Birmingham Central Mosque. The second part examines the contemporary situation, using quantitative data on planning decisions and the results of semi-structured interviews with members of various mosque committees in Birmingham. Interviewees were asked to evaluate the responses of the City Council to planning applications relating to their places of worship and education.