Transforming the Right to Religious Freedom in and through Cities

This article considers the content and implementation of the right to freedom of religion at city-level. Focusing on hyper-diverse Western European cities, it explains how religious belief is manifested in urban space and critically discusses the European Court on Human Rights’ religious freedom case law. Referring to examples of the pragmatic governance of religious diversity in certain cities and to the phrasing and positioning of religious freedom in ‘city rights charters’, the article suggests that urbanity may be producing more pragmatic, positive, and inclusive understandings of the right than that hitherto reflected in European human rights jurisprudence.