What makes a popular head of state? Is it the governing politician who looks to acts of radical and authoritarian nationalist political ideologies to improve their poll ratings? What do these figures say about their citizens, the state of global politics and local national identity?

Diverse and integrated urban lives are something that every nation struggles to foster in both historically and in contemporary settings. This is no surprise; the reality is that affluent countries encourage economic migration of individuals from less affluent countries to help fuel economic growth. Jobs, that existing populations are unenthusiastic to pursue become the bastion of the migrant work force oiling the cogs of the economic machine.

However, the introduction of new cultures, languages and habitual behaviour is inevitably going to change the architecture of the urban environment. Particular tensions arise when a group of individuals choose to live in a manner considered alternative to the accepted norm of that society.

This article was written in 2010 and as such is written in the context of the social and political conditions of the time