Religious diversity, public policies and gentrification in Paris and Barcelona

This paper analyzes the intersection between the regulation of religious expressions and urban transformation in contemporary European cities. Specifically, it focuses on two neighborhoods from Paris and Barcelona that have experienced, over the last few years, major urban reforms and a gentrification process. Drawing on qualitative fieldwork carried out in these two neighborhoods, the article shows the actors and the strategies for regulating religious expressions that are coherent with these transformations. They participate in the formulation of moral projects about a public space conceived as diverse and multicultural, but controlled and pacified. The paper contributes to and complements the literature on religious diversity governance in Europe, while pointing out the relevance of the urban contexts and the processes of change and dispute that go through them.