Abstract
Between 1950 and 1970, urban development was viewed (particularly in France and Belgium) very differently by urban planners and by religious institutions, especially in the Catholic world. Urban planners saw an opportunity to build a new environment for the self-fulfilment of modern humankind. The religious institutions saw urban development as a process of de-Christianization. This difference was due not only to practical and opportunist outlooks, but was grounded in different ways of approaching the ambiguity of the city: civilizing or destructive? What is the place of the ideal city (the “new Jerusalem”) in Christian thought? What is its place in modern thought? Over the uncertainties of the last 25 years, both approaches have moved from idealization to a sense of the possible. The public sphere is being realigned. Taking examples from France and Belgium, the author considers how religious institutions—particularly Catholic ones—might find a new involvement, and identifies Islam as a catalyst for change.