ABSTRACT
As the proportion of people living in urban settlements around the world has exponentially increased since World War II, it has become evident that cities and towns are not just places shaped by secular political and economic interests. They are not in the vanguard of some universal and unilinear process of secular modernity. Instead, a variety of modernities have emerged around the world (see Eisenstadt 2000) where religious institutions and allegiances sometimes continue to play an important role, both publicly and privately. Globalising cities display most vividly both the decline and persistence of religious solidarities. Diverse ‘micro geographies’ are emerging where some localities display the vigorous and expanding presence of religion in both public and private life.1
