Arguments for a Spiritual Urbanism

Abstract

The built environment may and should be utilized to address the extraordinary problems afflicting contemporary civilization. This speculation follows a fourfold logic. First, humanity is facing an unprecedented crisis in speed and scale. Second, a serious response demands a worldview depending on and advancing spirituality. Third, traditional faiths cannot effect the necessary spiritual shift at the pace or degree required. More intense and successful spiritual practices extracted from religions and scientifically validated offer better chances for wide deployment and therefore impact. Fourth, the built environment is well suited to induce and reinforce some of these ‘new’ spiritual practices given (a) its shaping role in cultural affairs; (2) humanity being an urban phenomenon, and (3) the huge population growth of the next half century.

Keywords

• Spirituality
• Crisis
• Science
• Religion
• Speculation