Explaining the power from Urban Identity Signifiers for Urban Geopolitics: A Case Study of Mosques

Religious places function as geopolitical nodes at the neighborhood scale: from a humanistic geopolitical perspective through cooperation and spatial justice, and from a geopolitics of domination perspective through social cohesion and integration. Despite being analyzable from both perspectives, mosques have received limited attention as urban power-generating entities.
This research is motivated by the weakening of mosque-centered neighborhood structures due to urban transformations, a process that has diminished the mosque’s role from an influential urban actor to a relatively passive institution.
The core research question examines what role the mosque, as an identity anchor, plays in generating power for urban geopolitics, aiming to identify the structural challenges it faces today.
The objective is to explain the mosque's political and social power from local to urban scales within urban geopolitics, using a descriptive-analytical approach based on library and online sources.
Findings indicate that irregular spatial distribution, institutional overlap, and functional weaknesses have eroded mosques' socio-political and economic influence in contemporary cities. Moreover, limited engagement with markets and public spaces restricts their ability to foster social solidarity and reproduce local social capital.
In conclusion, the findings indicate that, when supported by spatial planning, stronger socio-communicative functions, and institutional coherence, the mosque has the potential to emerge as a geopolitical node within urban power networks, fostering social cohesion, political engagement, and spatial order at the neighborhood level.
Urban governance should adopt a neighborhood-oriented approach that incorporates the geopolitical potential of mosques