The City Worships The Role of Religion in Cities Cities have long exerted an important influence over the development of American religion; in turn, religion has shaped the life of America’s cities. As the city shaped religion, religion shaped the city and the nation. Historians continue to uncover ways in which urban religion enabled individuals to understand, navigate, and contribute to the city around them. Across the urban landscape, there are an array of cathedrals, churches, and synagogues that serve as visible reminders of diversified urban congregations. Urbanists should take religion much more seriously than they often do. That’s because it plays a much bigger role in the city and civic health; providing opportunities for emotional support, moral discipline, social networking, economic assistance, and political participation. Religions of the World (Pew Research Center) There are 5.8 billion religiously affiliated adults and children around the globe, representing 84% of the 2010 world population of 6.9 billion. Nearly three-quarters (73%) of the world’s people live in countries in which their religious group makes up a majority of the population. Religions of the World (2010) 2.2 billion Christians (31% of the world’s population), 1.6 billion Muslims (23%), 1.1 billion have no religious affiliation (16%) 1 billion Hindus (15%), 500 million Buddhists (7%) 400 million people (6%) practice various folk or traditional religions, 14 million Jews (0.2%) Christianity is prevalent in the Americas, South Africa, Europe, Russia, Indonesia, and Australia. Islam is prevalent in the Middle East, western Asia, and Indonesia. Buddhism is prevalent in southern Asia. Hinduism is prevalent in India. China is largely unaffiliated. The Five Major World Religions The Future of World Religions The religious profile of the world is rapidly changing, driven primarily by differences in fertility rates and the size of youth populations among the world’s major religions, as well as by people switching faiths. Over the next four decades, Christians will remain the largest religious group, but Islam will grow faster than any other major religion. Top findings predicting religious affiliation in the U.S. (to 2050). Atheists, agnostics and religiously unaffiliated people will increase in the United States (from 16% to 26%) but decline as a share of the total worldwide population. Also in the United States, Christians will drop from 78% to 66% of population. Muslims will surpass Jews as the largest non-Christian religion in the U.S. Faith and Government Most of the world’s countries (85%) allow citizens of any religious affiliation to be head of state. 30 of the world’s countries (15%) belong to a unique group of nations that call for their heads of state to have a particular religious affiliation. More than half of the countries with religion-related restrictions on their heads of state (17) maintain that the office must be ...