Cities as Cultural Crossroads

Cities serve as dynamic archives of culture, migration, and history, captured vividly in their landscapes, monuments, street names, architecture, and diverse neighbourhoods. Such urban landscapes are not merely historical markers but living spaces where the politics and dynamics of the present continuously reshape identity and belonging. Focusing on two prominent European cities—Berlin and Paris— this volume critically analyzes their entanglements with colonial histories, migrations from the Middle East and North Africa, and the creation of new spaces of belonging. By examining gendered, religious, national, and cultural identities, alongside heritage preservation and cultural representation, the book reconsiders cities as pivotal sites of intercultural exchange between MENA, the Arab World and Europe. This publication appears in the series: Visions of the Middle East and North Africa Visions of the Middle East and North Africa, is a collaborative initiative between the Middle Eastern Studies programme at the University of Groningen and University of Groningen Press. Volumes published in the series highlight the diversity of the Middle East and North Africa by exploring culture and society through images and text. Individual volume themes are connected to departmental research, the series is inherently interdisciplinary incorporating fields such as sociology, history, cultural studies, and political science.