Homogenization of Representations

As the tide of globalization grows in sway and influence, are the built environments of the world's cities at risk of homogenization? Here, leading scholars evaluate the challenges of architecture and urban planning in Muslim societies, investigating the signs of the homogenizing processes within urban spaces. The book argues that homogenization risks limiting - even denying - transformations in Muslim societies beyond narrow dichotomies of modernism versus tradition. The possibility that representations of modernity in cities around the world will create an extensive uniformity in urban planning and the ways in which people live in different societies is arousing considerable criticism and debate. The book identifies the factors which have generated homogenization, and explores the interrelationship between social issues, the public sphere and the urban environment, and also considers where there have been movements towards differentiation, resistance and heterogenization. This is valuable reading for students and scholars with an interest in architecture, urban planning, the built environment, and questions of modernity in the Muslim world and beyond.

Modjtaba Sadria is Professor at the Institute for the Study of Muslim Civilisations atAga Khan University.