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Religiously inspired urbanism: Catholicism and the planning of the southern Dutch provincial cities Eindhoven and Roermond, c. 1900 to 1960

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2015

JOKS JANSSEN*
Affiliation:
Wageningen University, Land Use Planning Group, Gaia Building (building nr 101), Droevendaalsesteeg 3, 6708 PB Wageningen, The Netherlands

Abstract:

The discourse on twentieth-century urban planning has hidden from view the way religion (re)shaped the urban landscape. By analysing the interaction between urban development and Catholic politics in the southern Dutch provincial cities of Eindhoven and Roermond, this article argues that religious thinking, practice and institutions had considerable influence on urban planning. Religious views and ideas played an important role in the spatial transformation of these towns. The secular instruments of urban planning were used during the ‘pillarization’ period to emphasize the sensus catholicus of town and region, and to achieve the desired Catholic social and moral order.

Type
Dyos Prize winner 2014
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2015 

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