Theorising the religion–city nexus: political economies and moral topographies

The relationship between religion and urban governance challenges the prevailing assumptions of secularist and modernisation theories. We argue that religious institutions are central to urban governance, shaping welfare provision, spatial politics and moral imaginaries. Drawing on empirical case studies from four Middle Eastern cities - Beirut, Kuwait City and Tehran, we present a dual analytical framework focusing on the political economy of (de)sectarianisation and the moral topographies of urban belonging. Through this lens, we examine how religious actors engage in hybrid governance and influence land and housing markets, disaster recovery and cultural heritage, constructing contested moral orders in urban spaces in the process. This framework captures the material and immaterial dimensions of urban life, revealing how religious actors and institutions produce segregation and coexistence, and belonging and exclusion, along and across religious lines. Theorising from the Middle East in this way contributes to critical urban studies and decentred urban theory, offering new insights into the role of religion in shaping contemporary urban transformations and politics.