Paris, and meticulous crowd management in Singapore as important self-governance practices of Hindus in these cities.

## 14.6 Sidewalk Religion and Indoor Sacred Atmospheres in Paris

Given the discrepancy between Tamil mobile engagements with the urban space of Paris while residing in the suburbs, and drawing on Henri Lefebvre’s question of who has the right to the city (Lefebvre, 1972 [1968]), Nicole Berger emphasizes that “rightful subjects of urban spaces” need to be considered in light of their mobility and their mobile uses of the city rather than merely in terms of residential rights (Berger, 2019:30–31). In addition to moving between the symbolic Tamil neighborhood La Chapelle and the residential suburbs, even within La Chapelle, Hindus need to be mobile to practice their religion. For example, space is limited on the ground floor of the residential building so that the temple, the priests’ residential apartments, the temple president’s family’s home, and several storages for ritual purposes are all located in different buildings in the surrounding streets.

At times, devotees stand on the sidewalk in front of the temple when it is too full to enter on weekends, or when the temple offers free lunch once or twice a week, forming a long queue of people waiting to be served. I call these moments of “sidewalk religion”. When the temple cannot accommodate all devotees, the narrow space between the temple entrance and the street becomes an important site of religious worship. Devotees and the temple management are careful not to cause any conflicts on the sidewalks, as the following scene illustrates.

A Sunday morning in La Chapelle, Paris. Seeing Deepa so busy calling out to people in Tamil where to put their shoes, Padma decides to help her. Padma is a devotee from North India in her late 40s. She keenly tries to help in the Ganesh temple, which she regards as *seva* (service), for example by sweeping the temple floor. This does not always find appreciation among the Tamil temple volunteers, who seem content with their distribution of duties. On that day, Padma wants to help organizing the shoes and takes me along to a copy shop a few streets away in La Chapelle. Between a woman printing posters and flyers for her new henna business, and several people photocopying French forms, the shop assistants help Padma to set up a Word document. Having forgotten her glasses, she dictates me in French “Please leave your shoes here” and asks one of the assistants to type the sentence in Tamil, who writes “Please remove your shoes” in Tamil. Being the only one in this situation who understands both French and Tamil well enough to point out the mistake, I explain that it is not simply about removing foot wear before entering the temple, which most people know anyways, but about *where* to put the shoes in these special circumstances of having a small interim temple for the weeks of renovation taking place in the Ganesh temple. After 45 min of writing, discussing and formatting in the copy shop, Padma is satisfied with her result and we walk back to the
temple. There, a member of the temple management does not allow Padma to put up the printed signs. In the management member's look, I see incomprehension for Padma's initiative. The temple would probably not even have the authorization to put up such a sign. Furthermore, it would fixate a temporary situation of shoes on the pavement for a few weeks during the renovation works into a visible problem about the usage of public space. In Padma's eyes, I see disappointment. Turning to me, she emphasizes that she only wanted to help. She considered the 5 Euros she invested into printing these signs a significant contribution to the temple. I have not seen Padma in the Ganesh temple after this day. The situation reflects the heterogeneity of Hindus in Paris, with conflicting wishes of participation in the places of worship. Furthermore, this example of sidewalk religion shows how conscious practitioners are about not causing any trouble in Paris, and that temporary usages of space require subtle negotiations.

The notion of “sidewalk religion” was particularly evident during the 2023 Ganesh festival in La Courneuve, a suburb of Paris. The temple organizers were informed few days before the festival that the planned procession through the neighborhood was not allowed because of a replacement bus line passing in front of the temple due to train line repairs. The temple spontaneously conducted the festival entirely indoors and on the sidewalk in front of the temple. Festival participants managed to pull the god chariot for a few meters on the sidewalk between the temple entrance and the garage next to the temple. Instead of walking in a procession, male *kāvaṭi* carriers danced their decorated wooden arches inside the temple and on the pavement. Female fire pot carriers carried their fire pots for a few meters between the temple entrance to the garage. Devotees stood on both sidewalks of the street, leaving the street empty for the bus to pass. It was somehow ironic to see this sidewalk festival after several practitioners had told me that temples in the suburbs have more space for their festivals than those in the city centre.

In addition to moments of (attempted) public visibility, such as during the annual temple festivals, I also observed the creation of hidden, highly intensive atmospheres through the conduct of communal prayer in the Sri Ayyappan temple in La Chapelle. The temple is barely visible from the street and does not organize any procession through the neighborhood. Pedestrians sometimes try looking through the dark windows to see where the sounds of the prayer bell and chanting come from. Inside, the walls of the relatively small room are tiled black, a symbolic color of the main deity, which enhances the radiance of the golden shrines. During weekend worship, the temple is sometimes packed with devotees. They sit around the main shrine singing, drumming, playing cymbals, sweating due to the density of people. Oil lamps contribute to the atmosphere with their light and smell. At one of the culminating moments, the shutters are lowered and all electric lights are turned off, emphasizing the glow of the oil lamps. The deity and the devotees mutually see each other through the divine light. Seeing is a multisensory experience, which also includes hearing the prayer bell, smelling the oil lamps and incense, chanting prayer expressions, and experiencing the divine.

One devotee in this temple told me: “we escape the materialistic life once a week” (my translation from French). While devotees seem to escape their urban
lives, the urban remains key to their communal worship, as Sarah Pike (2017) has observed in the case of ecstatic dancers. Pike demonstrates how the ecstatic dancers' bodily practices and particular urban soundscapes can create temporary spiritual spaces to escape urban life. At the same time, the dancers remain closely connected to their urban lives and transport their spiritual experiences to other urban spaces. The hidden ways of practicing religion in the Sri Ayyappan temple, in the city center, yet invisible to the public, do not only present a weekly ritual in the devotees' experiences of the urban, but also contribute to the creation of urban neighborhood through sounds penetrating the walls of the building without the aim of public visibility. In addition, the Sri Ayyappan temple presents a door into India. It organizes an annual pilgrimage for a group of worshippers to the most important Ayyappan temple, in Sabarimala in South India, which allows them to "escape" even further.

## 14.7 Crowd Management in Singapore

A Sunday evening in the Sri Mariamman temple in Chinatown, Singapore. It is the culminating day of the fire walking festival. The otherwise large open space in the temple premises features a fire pit, producing an enormous heat you can feel when approaching the metal barriers surrounding it. The entire temple space is compartmentalized by metal barriers into seating areas and walking lines. Several thousand devotees enter the temple in the course of the evening. When some of the walking lines leading the moving crowds need adaptation, members of the crowd management teams quickly react and rearrange the metal barriers within seconds. Outside the temple, fire walkers queue in front of the main entrance to the temple, regulated by metal barriers and volunteers guiding them. Outside of two side entries to the temple, more metal barriers compartmentalize waiting areas for those you want to enter the temple to watch the fire walking. Volunteers allow the waiting devotees, who can sit on chairs in rows in their waiting compartments, to enter group after group. While inside the temple, the atmosphere is full of sounds, hectic movements, and excitement, the waiting areas outside the temple are impressively calm.

The fire walking festival is less visible than the big day-time processions during *Taippūcam* in Singapore and the Ganesh festival in Paris, but more visible than the prayers in the Sri Ayyappan temple in Paris. To outsiders, the fire walking festival might also be overshadowed by the grandiose Deepavali decorations in Little India and the Deepavali celebrations around that time. On the culminating evening, however, the entire neighborhood around the Sri Mariamman temple in Chinatown is full of devotees sitting, standing, walking, and queuing. The temple has several volunteer groups in charge of specific organizational aspects of the temple and its festivals. Two of the volunteer groups are responsible for crowd management. Already in the festival months preceding the culminating ritual of crossing a pit filled with glowing embers, these volunteers can be recognized by wearing T-shirts saying Crowd Management 1 and Crowd Management 2. One of my crowd
management interlocutors repeated several times that “the fire walking needs to be
safe and sound”.

The ways the Singaporean crowd management teams meticulously manage the participating crowds reflects Singapore's obsession with safety. The emphasis that the fire walking festival organizers lay on crowd management and the precision with which the volunteers execute the crowd management reveals an important level of self-governance of this religious minority. Such prudent forms of contributing to the governance of religious diversity also show in the examples of sidewalk religion in Paris. Devotees are apprehensive of potential conflicts with regards to waiting bodies and shoes on the pavement. During the conduct of an entire procession on a few meters of sidewalk in La Courneuve, devotees were mindful to stand behind the barriers on both sides of the street. While the instances of improvised governance of sidewalk religion in Paris and its suburbs concerned several hundred devotees at most, the conduct of meticulous crowd management by Singaporean Hindus takes the self-governance of religious diversity to a larger scale, with official crowd management teams guiding and protecting several thousands of devotees.

**14.8 Material and Embodied City Making and Prudent Diversity Governance**

The examples of Hindus in Singapore and Paris, with a focus on the installation of temples and the conduct of festivals, reveal how religious minorities contribute to the cities' diversities. While Hindus in Singapore are a historically older religious minority under constant negotiation from outside and inside, Hindus in Paris present a religious minority in the making with a more recent history. Despite the placative difference between large temples in Dravidian architecture in Singapore and temples installed in already existing buildings in Paris, I observed diverse levels of felt recognition in both cases. Some of my Singaporean Hindu interlocutors displayed a considerable degree of self-confidence in claiming rights and lamenting misrecognition by comparing the situation of Hindus to the Chinese majority. Others displayed great satisfaction with their possibilities to conduct religious practices, were happy to comply to the rules, and appreciated the emphasis on safety in Singapore. While some of my interlocutors in (sub)urban Paris lamented the little recognition Hinduism receives in France, most appreciated the possibilities of worship and relationshipships with the respective townshalls they had. I did not come across many cases of comparison with the French Catholic majority. The sidewalk Ganesh festival in a suburb of Paris was particularly telling. Having organizing the procession during this annual festival only since a few years, which also was interrupted by the pandemic, the temple organizers quietly accepted the last-minute decision to not be able to have a procession through the neighborhood.

Even when unable to build temples or conduct elaborate street processions,
Hindus contribute to the urban diversity through temporary embodied forms of
worship in public spaces, like sidewalk religion, and through indoor religion, with
temple sounds permeating the streets. In addition to religious practices in temples
and during festivals, religious diversity manifests itself in various aspects, such as in
people's ways of dressing, in shops selling religious objects, in dance performances,
music concerts, religious Sunday schools, negotiations about religious identifica-
tory practices at work places, or in the sensory experiences of smelling or consum-
ing charity food provided by places of worship. These practices, events and spaces
contribute to a great extent to the ways Hindus experience the city, as well as to how
non-Hindus perceive the city, and allow for moments of potential interreligious
interactions. The invitation of political representatives as guests of honor to Hindu
festivals in both Paris and Singapore is a case in point.

Hindus in both cities contribute not only to the cities’ diversities but also to the
governance of religious diversity, by claiming space in rather unagitated, serene and
modest ways, without challenging municipal and state norms. The instances of side-
walk religion I observed during the Ganesh festivals in Paris and a suburb revealed
a very prudent presence, with organizers being careful not to disturb the neighbors
or violate regulations. While contributing to the neighborhood’s popularity and
attracting many spectators, including tourists, they make great efforts to not cause
conflicts. Giving no cause for scolding emerges as important in the ways Hindus
claim their “right to the city” (Lefebvre, 1972 [1968]) through mobile spatial prac-
tices of installing temples and adapting their ritual practices to the traffic regulations
in Paris and to the safety concerns in Singapore. The comparative approach taken in
the chapter reveals how religious practitioners, as city makers, actively contribute
through their temples, festivals and bodies to images and experiences of the city and
to the governance of religious diversity.

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**Open Access** This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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<figure><img src="image_50.png" /></figure>
Chapter 15

Comparing Urban Diversity Governance:
A Transregional and Relational
Perspective

<figure><img src="image_51.png" /></figure>

Check for
updates

Jeremie Molho, Marie Gibert-Flutre, and Kong Chong Ho

**15.1 Introduction**

Why do cities that appear worlds apart, governed by different political systems and shaped by distinct migration histories, grapple with strikingly similar questions about how to govern diversity? What explains the emergence of common policy languages or parallel urban experiments in promoting diversity across such varied contexts? Answering these questions requires moving beyond explanations that rely on exoticizing difference or assuming straightforward policy diffusion and replication. A comparative approach can illuminate the diverse ways cities are reimagining diversity governance in response to shared global processes.

This volume has delved into the various ways in which city makers navigate and shape the politics of diversity. We have engaged with the material and symbolic contributions that these diverse actors make in urban space production. Through this lens, we have sought to advocate for an actor-driven approach, acknowledging the transformative power of different kinds of urban stakeholders. This book was guided by two interrelated objectives: to reconceptualize urban diversity governance through the active roles of city makers, and to advance a translocal comparative

J. Molho (✉)

Canada Excellence Chair in Migration and Integration Program, Toronto Metropolitan
University, Toronto, ON, Canada

e-mail: jeremie.molho@torontomu.ca

M. Gibert-Flutre

Department of East Asia Studies, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France

e-mail: marie.gibert@u-paris.fr

K. C. Ho

Department of Sociology and Anthropology, National University of Singapore,
Singapore, Singapore

e-mail: ho_kc@yale-nus.edu.sg
framework that situates these processes within global networks and narratives. In this conclusive chapter, we highlight some key insights of the contributions of this book in advancing the understanding of the role of city makers in diversity governance, and draw some lessons on the use of comparison as a mode of thinking about urban diversity governance.

The comparative approach underpinning this volume is anchored in the conviction that urban diversity governance cannot be fully comprehended through a single regional lens, given the global nature of contemporary urban challenges. Our aim has been to bridge disparate contexts in Europe and Asia to contribute to a more decentered perspective. Such a comparative perspective ambitions to identify the common threads that bind the global urban experience (Glick Schiller & Çağlar, 2009). When we examine the role of city makers, the value of comparative analysis becomes evident. These actors operate within a globalized context, shaped by the transnational flow of people, capital, and ideas. The dialectic between promoting desirable diversity as a catalyst for economic growth and exercising control through restrictions and regimentation manifests across both European and Asian urban landscapes. City makers, irrespective of their geographical settings, are bound by the global dynamics of migration, governance, and urban development, making a comparative perspective essential in understanding the complexities of urban diversity governance (Meissner & Vertovec, 2017).

Building upon the comparative approach, relational urbanism offers a more nuanced framework for analyzing urban diversity governance (Ward, 2022). This perspective conceives cities as dynamically interlinked within global networks of migration, capital, and policy transfer (Feldman & Jolivet, 2014; Söderström's, 2014). This approach challenges researchers to consider the complex, intertwined fabric of urban life that transcends geographic and cultural boundaries. By embracing relational urbanism, we can better capture the essence of how city makers navigate and shape the governance of urban diversity within a globally interconnected context.

## 15.2 Conceptualizing City Makers from a Global Perspective

Our book has brought to the fore an enriched understanding of city makers, emphasizing their role in the social life of the city. In Chap. 2, in the case of the Punggol district, Daniel Goh and Shai-Ann Koh move beyond the physical infrastructure crafted by elite city makers. Their work reveals the indispensable role of Indian migrant professionals in the social weaving of the district. In Chap. 10, Yang Yang illuminates the integral role of social engagement in the making of Xi'an's Silk Road narrative. This heritagization strategy gains substance through the culinary artistry of Hui chefs and the historical knowledge of scholars. Further, in Chap. 7 Vidal captures the subtle influence of Portuguese Janitors on urban life, through
their roles in their neighborhoods, which includes violence prevention, information dissemination, and political engagement.

Physical interventions are also central to the process of city-making. These interventions, however, are not merely about marking the presence of communities; they are profound expressions of values that resonate beyond the confines of any single group. In Chap. 11, Léa Réville provides a compelling case with the Halte Humanitaire in Paris, which has been projected as a manifestation of the city's commitment to the values of solidarity. For its symbolic potential to be actualized, it must be embraced by the community, requiring a delicate balance between the newcomers' needs and the existing residents' concerns. Similarly, in Chap. 3's Marie Gibert-Flutre shows that the Silk Road Paris wholesale market, is not simply a venue for commerce but a visible marker of the Chinese textile entrepreneurs' evolution from peripheral figures to prominent players in Paris's global standing.

The physical manifestations of migrants and minorities in the urban fabric are also indicative of their agency within the bounds of structural limitations. In Chap. 8, Samantha Lim and Elaine Ho present the urban villages of Guangzhou as a physical testament to the precariousness of temporary migration regimes. These high-density settlements, shaped by rural migrants under the restrictive Hukou system, are nevertheless tolerated due to the essential role these communities play in the urban economy. In Chap. 13, Natalie Lang shows how the religious expressions of Hindus in the urban space, through the establishment of temples or organization of festivals, has to be negotiated with local and national authorities, which can lead to highly contrasted visibilities in the public space. The experiences of international students in Chap. 6, studied by Rochelle Ge and Kong Chong Ho, further underscore the impact of institutional policies on urban experiences. The decisions by higher education to either segregate or integrate international students with local populations profoundly affect the students' social engagement with the city. Lastly, Chap. 12's examination of cultural city-making in Doha and Singapore by Jeremie Molho reveals how marginalized migrants navigate and sometimes subvert segregated cultural policies. Through cultural activities in enclaves that are often physically and socially segregated, migrants manage to create emancipatory spaces that serve both as a form of cultural expression and as a challenge to the structures that seek to marginalize them.

City-making extends beyond the tangible urban environment, enveloping the transnational social spaces that connect cities across the globe. In Chap. 1, Beniamino Peruzzi Castellani, brings to light how urban leaders in Barcelona, Hamamatsu, and Ansan reshape their cities' approaches to multiculturalism while actively engaging in a global discourse on intercultural city-making. By participating in city networks, these leaders are able to share policy innovations and elevate their stature as pioneers of diversity governance on the world stage. In Chap. 6, Rochelle Ge and Kong Chong Ho show that international students' movements and eventual settlement decisions enables them to build transnational friendship connections. In Chap. 9, Gilles Guiheux and Lulu Fan explores the economic and trade networks established by Chinese immigrants. These networks serve as vital linkages between cities, enabling migrant entrepreneurs to act as brokers, reinforcing the global economic position of their cities.
## 15.3 Comparative Urban Research as a Method to Investigate the Multi-Scalar Politics of Diversity Governance

In recent years, comparative urban research has increasingly been mobilized as a tool to trace traveling urban processes, study transnational urban activism, and analyse policies addressing global issues such as inequalities, segregation, and gentrification (Roy & Ong, 2011; McFarlane & Robinson, 2012; Le Galès & Robinson, 2023). This comparative approach can provide valuable insights into the politics of urban diversity (Dines, 2022). Comparative research can be undertaken for diverse purposes, including illuminating the unique characteristics of a particular case, situating a case within a wider context, or discerning the broader applicability of a concept (Abu-Lughod, 2007). We envision comparison not merely as a methodological tool but as an approach that underpins the conceptualization of urban diversity governance. Comparison engages with the political dimension of urban inquiry, using it as an instrument to challenge established claims in urban theory and contribute novel insights (McFarlane, 2010). Comparative thinking in urban studies has emerged as a crucial countermeasure to the pitfall of ethnocentrism, where urban researchers apply pre-conceived theoretical frameworks and methodological assumptions that preemptively dictate the significance and order of events (Qadeer, 2005; Ren, 2020).

In this book, comparison is not merely understood as a protocol to juxtapose different cities along pre-established variables but as a relational mode of urban analysis (Çağlar & Glick Schiller, 2021). As McFarlane (2010) suggests, “our claims and arguments are always set against other kinds of urban possibilities or imaginaries.” Thus, comparative urban research seeks to unravel the multiple implicit comparisons that underpin our reflections. Using Robinson’s (2016) terminology, we advocate for various “comparative strategies,” which reveal the many differentially connected processes shaping cities. Brenner (2001), building upon Charles Tilly’s (1984) typology, introduces different comparative strategies, distinguishing between ‘universalizing’, ‘variation-finding’, ‘individualizing’, and ‘encompassing’ comparisons. Universalizing comparisons assert that “every instance of a phenomenon follows essentially the same rule” and emphasize commonalities across diverse territorial contexts. Individualizing comparisons highlight the uniqueness of each case, illustrating how a phenomenon can manifest in a range of particular instances. Variation-finding comparisons systematically trace differences between cases to “establish a principle of variation in the character and intensity of a phenomenon.” This approach often manifests in research that contrasts two or more cities or various processes occurring within a single city. Lastly, encompassing comparisons involve situating instances within a system, explaining their variation based on their function and position within this system. This approach has been particularly influential in urban studies through work on world cities and global cities, considering urban change to be determined by a city’s position in the economic world-system (Rutherford, 2004; Sassen, 2015).
Through the contributions in this book, which use comparative strategies as a means to illuminate the agency of city makers in navigating and shaping the city's diversity governance, we aim to elaborate an agenda for comparative urban research as a tool for analysing urban diversity governance. A first subset of chapters within this volume employs references to extant research on other cities as a framework for contextualizing their individual case studies. This approach integrates comparative thinking as an intellectual exercise to conceptualize and understand a singular city within the expanse of urban scholarship (Amelang, 2007). Conversely, a second suite of chapters directly engages with two or three discrete case studies, based on multi-sited fieldwork. These studies exemplify the application of comparative methodologies, wherein comparison forms an integral pillar of the research design (Nijman, 2007).

### 15.3.1 Situating Urban Diversity Governance in a Global Context

In the first category of chapters, invoking external cities serves to position a case study within a broader context. This can serve an analytical function: explaining a process highlighting contrasts across different cases. This can also serve a descriptive function: situating a case in relation to others. Drawing upon comparative references allows for the extrapolation of conceptual frameworks developed within different contexts. This scholarly endeavour entails applying established theoretical models to novel case studies, evaluating their relevance, and discerning whether these models maintain their explanatory power or if divergent aspects of the new context necessitate theoretical recalibration. Dominique Vidal's work in Chap. 7, for instance, exemplifies the power of comparative analysis in elucidating the unique integration patterns of Portuguese janitors within Paris. By contrasting these patterns with those observed in New York, where visible minorities occupy similar roles, Vidal casts light on the strategies of employment that privilege white European migrants in the Parisian context. This examination brings into relief the broader implications of colour-blind ideologies and their intersection with urban occupational structures.

Comparative analysis enables to establish connections with studies from varying contexts (Peck, 2015). Samantha Lim and Elaine Ho, in Chap. 8, leverage comparative thinking as a mechanism to contextualize the processes observed in their analysis of Guangzhou. The comparison contrasts the experiences of Shipai Village's internal migrants, against the collective activism witnessed in Mumbai's Dharavi and the collaborative housing efforts in Thailand's Baan Mankong program. This contrasts the individualistic aspirations of internal migrants in Guangzhou with the collective agency in Dharavi, where historic victories in securing rights have catalysed community solidarity and collaborative resistance against evictions.
The use of comparison allows contextualizing individual cases within broader transnational networks (Wood, 2020). Léa Réville, in Chap. 11, situates the case of the *Halte Humanitaire*, a temporary reception centre for exiles in Paris within the broader transnational movement of ‘cities of refuge’. This positioning extends beyond the local Parisian context to engage with the global discourse on urban sanctuary, hospitality, and asylum. This comparative lens not only contextualizes the Parisian approach to asylum but also enables a critical evaluation of its distinctive-ness amidst international efforts. It spotlights Paris’s attempt to position itself as a city of refuge, resonant with historic initiatives in Venice and recent collaborative calls among European mayors.

Comparative thinking can serve to anchor a case study within global phenomena, identifying common urban threads manifesting across various locales (Allegra et al., 2012). An illustrative example is the exploration of digital districts and the attendant experiences of skilled migrants who populate these spaces, as expounded by Daniel Goh and Shai-Ann Koh in Chap. 3. This case study contributes to a broader comparative urban research agenda by revealing the unique patterns that materialize in non-Western, high-tech, cosmopolitan contexts. These patterns are intricately linked to global urban phenomena, such as the pursuit of ‘livable’ urban environments to attract international talent, as well as the burgeoning global middle class, which, despite its mobility and human capital, faces precarious living conditions.

Comparative analysis can serve to delineate the experiences of diaspora communities across various cities, as illustrated by Marie Gibert-Flutre in Chap. 4, mapping Chinese diasporic networks in Western Europe and showing the adaptation of these communities within specific urban environments. Gibert-Flutre places Paris in a comparative dialogue with other European cities, identifying unique patterns of Chinese entrepreneurship and its reception within the regional system. This approach contextualizes the expansion of Chinese entrepreneurship and traces the reactions it elicits, including conflict and hostility, in cities like Milan and Prato.

### 15.3.2 Comparative Methodologies Exploring the Policies and Politics of Urban Diversity

A second group of chapters in this volume compare two or three case studies. Confronting different case studies through comparative methodologies enables to trace similarities and contrasts throughout the research process and form our analysis of a case from the distance allowed by using the other case as a mirror. Such comparative methodologies can focus on overt contrasts within urban landscapes, like Natalie Lang’s Chap. 13, which pinpoints visual disparities across the urban religious practices of Hindus in Paris and Singapore to prompt critical inquiry into the underlying causes of these differences. The divergent strategies of visibility and invisibility of Hindu communities in Singapore and Paris, respectively, illuminate distinct approaches to managing religious diversity. In Singapore, the acknowledgment of Hinduism as part of the national heritage is evidenced by the
prominence of monumental temples, whereas in Paris, the practices of Hindus are discreetly woven into the residential fabric, reflective of French laïcité. The spatial presence of Hindus in both cities extends beyond the symbolic ethnic neighborhoods. In Paris, the commercial and symbolic Tamil neighborhood of La Chapelle features two temples, while many other temples are installed in suburban Paris. In Singapore, Hindu temples are distributed across the city beyond the symbolic neighborhood of Little India, mirroring public housing policies aimed at preventing ethnic enclaves. Lang's inquiry into these two urban settings exposes the differing impacts of multiculturalist policies in Singapore and laicist approaches in France on religious minorities' sense of belonging and recognition. This comparative analysis, as a reflective exercise, elucidates the diverse lived experiences of Hindu minorities under varying urban conditions.

Comparative methodology can serve as an instrument for discerning patterns that emerge across contrasting urban contexts (Robinson, 2011). Jeremie Molho's Chap. 12 relies on an iterative cross-examination of two contrasted urban settings: Doha and Singapore. This approach seeks to establish a dialogue between cases, allowing each to inform the development of a common theoretical framework. Molho identifies a common pattern of compartmentalization within diversity governance, which sheds light on the paradox between an enthusiastic embrace of positive diversity management narratives in various aspects of city governance and, at the same time, the marginalization of certain categories of migrants that are excluded from such mainstream discourses. This comparison analyses the influence of such diversity management processes on cultural practitioners' actions. The confrontation of these two urban contexts, traversed by similar processes of marginalization, enables tracing how cultural city makers navigate within such constrained governance frameworks.

The application of comparative methodology can be instrumental in delineating variations across distinct case studies that exemplify specific phenomena. It has been mobilized in endeavours to discern contrasted patterns by juxtaposing societies that ostensibly share parallel characteristics and potentially analogous causal factors that hold influence over the policies and politics of diversity (Garbaye, 2011). Rochelle Ge and Kong Chong Ho, in Chap. 6, deploy a comparative lens to assess the divergent strategies employed by three key higher education hubs—Singapore, Seoul, and Beijing—in managing their international student populations. This comparative approach allows to understand how urban strategies of student housing can shape the academic and social lives of students, as well as their relationships with the host population. In Singapore's National University of Singapore (NUS), a mixed housing arrangement fosters interactions between local and international students by randomly assigning them to shared living spaces. In contrast, Renmin University of China (RUC) opts for enclave dormitories for international students, providing separate facilities with amenities aligned with their expectations. Meanwhile, Seoul National University (SNU) offers a free-choice housing arrangement, allowing international students to opt for mixed or enclave dormitories. These varied housing arrangements, whether integrated with local students or segregated within enclaves, significantly impacts the students' opportunities for cultural exchange, social networking, and developing ties with the local
community. These arrangements not only reflect the strategies of cities to position
themselves as attractive education hubs but also the broader societal attitudes
towards integration and multiculturalism.

The comparative method extends beyond mere juxtaposition of local phenom-
ena; it positions local processes within the intricate web of global systems (Smith,
2017), as elucidated by Gilles Guiheux and Lulu Fan in Chap. 9. This approach
allows an examination of how global industries, such as the garment sector with its
distinct production and distribution centres, engender varied local configurations.
By contextualizing the local within the global, comparative methods illuminate the
ways in which global economic structures influence local urban dynamics, provid-
ing a scaffold for analysing the socio-economic dynamics of urban spaces. Guiheux
and Fan's work critically examines the positioning of cities like Paris and Guangzhou
within the global garment industry network. They contrast Paris's role as a trading
hub for mid to low-range ready-to-wear fashion with Guangzhou's combined might
in trading and manufacturing. By doing so, they trace the socio-economic fabric that
characterizes these urban landscapes and the experience of the migrant entrepre-
neurs integral to these industries. This comparative analysis reveals that similar
urban processes are driven by individual entrepreneurs, real-estate investors, and
local authorities, regardless of geography. The case of Haizhu District in Guangzhou,
paralleled with Parisian districts like Le Sentier and Aubervilliers, demonstrates
spontaneous development patterns driven by specific local conditions, such as the
unique land rights of villagers in Guangzhou's urban villages.

Comparative methodology offers a robust framework for examining the varia-
tions across a network of cities, as adeptly analysed by Beniamino Peruzzi Castellani
in Chap. 1. His analysis brings into relief the role of city networks in shaping urban
diversity governance strategies. The chapter underscores how cities within networks
such as the Intercultural City network leverage comparative thinking to elaborate
their approach to diversity governance and to pragmatically implement intercultur-
alism on the ground. Castellani’s chapter illustrates that intercultural cities like
Barcelona, Hamamatsu, and Ansan share certain dynamics and city makers, includ-
ing civic leaders, civil society associations, and business leaders. These stakehold-
ers drive the strategic positioning of cities as leaders in global diversity policymaking,
crafting legitimacy in partnership with civil society actors. Crucially, Castellani
challenges the notion of non-Western cities emulating Western models. Instead, the
comparative analysis reveals that cities like Hamamatsu and Ansan, despite their
membership in a predominantly European network, develop specific strategies
rooted in their national and local dynamics and draw upon indigenous concepts.

**15.4 Conclusion**

The endeavour of comparative thinking, while fraught with multiple practical and
conceptual challenges is crucial to unravel the multifaceted nature of urban diversity
governance. This volume thus advocates for a comparative approach that embraces
interconnected global processes, enabling a more decentred understanding of
diversity governance. This can be instrumental to move away from an exclusive reliance on the national scale as the dominant framework for understanding diversity governance. Research designs and theorization efforts that recognize the embeddedness of cities within various regional, national, and global networks and narratives are key to truly appreciating the full complexities of urban diversity governance. The comparative lens allows to envisage the urban as a node in a larger network, interlaced with threads of demographic change, policy transfer, and multiscalar political dynamics. Such a perspective not only enriches our grasp of governance at the urban level but also sheds lights on the ways in which cities act laboratories for inclusionary and exclusionary practices.

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