Sacred urban spaces and the plight of the urban deprived

Abstract

Urban symbolism and rituals are more than a simple reflection of a society. They lay bare the bones of a society and the relations between its constituent groups of all sorts: class, caste/ethnicity, gender and age. It may even be utilized strategically for the purposes set by the whole society or by constituent groups or even individuals. This makes the study of urban symbolism intriguing. It focuses on a cultural layer produced and consumed in a society that, because of its long persistence, also reflects and shapes the history of the urban community. Urban symbols and rituals comment on daily life in the city and vice-versa; a society is observing and interpreting them too. They are related to both urban identity and urban image. In our view, the study of urban symbolism has created a new approach to urban studies; one which should no longer be neglected. Current studies of cities focusing on infrastructure, and social and administrative life must be complemented by the cultural symbolic aspect in order to present a proper, balanced picture of urban society. So, in our view, urban anthropologists, sociologists, historians, architects, planners, and geographers have to include this cultural approach to describe and analyze the urban communities in its full essence. The diversity of urban settlements and the internal stratification within cities is obviously a challenge for ethnographic fieldwork, but they should not be considered a drawback for research itself.