An Inquiry into the Urban Landscape of Multicultural Cities

Abstract

The social landscape of most of the European cities is rapidly changing from a single to the multiple cultural communities under the influence of globalisation and human movement.Such a rapid change has moved the concept of singularity from the many discourses on the socio-cultural, economic and physical aspect of the city to a more complex cross-cultural dialogue.On the socio-cultural dimension, the subject of social cohesion and social inclusion where different social and ethnic groups can live together to form a larger urban community yet retain their cultural identity has become an important issue that concerns many cities.In the main, these issues have been analysed using social, economic and political science perspectives.The influence of the built environment as an important factor in determining cultural and ethical identity has been inadequately addressed The paper reviews selected theoretical concepts to verify the exact meaning of culture, cultural identity, social space and social spatiality in the context of ethnic societies.These issues are then examined in the Muslim ethnic neighbourhoods in Birmingham to find out to what extent the urban character of their neighbourhoods represents their cultural identity.The paper concludes how the understanding of cultural norms can contribute to the development of an alternative approach for planning and regeneration practice.

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