CONCLUSION Death forms the genesis of all religious beliefs and created the final rituals we do as we leave this world. Ancient burial traditions have not adapted to the modern ways of life, nor do they consider current economical and environmental issues. In densely populated cities of the world, the dead may outnumber the living, but should not occupy an equal amount of space. London’s major denominations and their funeral practices have rituals that govern the way land is distributed, they take up an immense amount of space, but the growing population consequently increases the death toll. There are two uncompromising realities that are causing this crisis. Firstly, religious rituals require an endless supply of space for burials. Secondly, an active Victorian burial law that requires all municipal graves to remain in perpetuity. These two factors are limiting the land resource in London, forcing us to seek new ways of accommodating the dead. Architects with radical cemetery designs and alternative city planning will always see their ideas unrealised until advancements across other varying authority departments come to address this issue, Dr Julie Rugg mentions in an interview with the Financial Times, “The crisis is built into our system. We’ve always been at crisis levels,” she said. “There’s a red light that’s been shining for decades,”60whilst referencing the Victorian burial law. The Burial Law of 1857 is obsolete; it is undeniable that this is the necessary course of action to tackle the crisis in the burial system. The world is at an impasse, old traditions are averting the path of progress to tackle modern problems with modern solutions. It is time for a new burial act that takes onboard radical amendments on the interment period and accepts humane alternatives to burials. 60 61 62
Initially the Victorians rejected the notion of cremation due to old traditions, current society is doing the same. Modern scientific advancements are not being embraced due to fear of upsetting old societal norms. The Woking Crematorium began cremation in 1885 but the Cremation Act did not come to pass until 1902, 61the cremation society campaigned a strong movement that led the success of cremations in the UK. The extreme alternatives need to do the same and, in the future, they won’t seem so extreme, just like cremation. Grave reuse is a solution that should already be the norm. The negligence of local boroughs undertaking this power has led burial experts like Mohammed Omar to advocate for further reform to reduce the interment period from 75 years to 50 years. As mentioned above, the appliance of grave reuse would see a rebirth of public cemeteries in the city, currently they are literal dead spaces. The future needs to see a revival of cemeteries. A quote from Dr Julie Rugg in an interview - “I tend to think of cemeteries as being like schools and hospitals. They are an emotional locus … Without them, a neighbourhood is bereft of a particular kind of community space. Where else would you get that in an urban landscape? They add an emotional intelligence to a city.”62 When the human lifespan is taken into consideration, the physical body spends more time in death than in life. Therefore death and the memory of life should be celebrated within the city, but our methods in commemorating the dead need to be adapted for a sustainable future. An environmentally friendly system needs to be established to ensure the future of the planet. As many depart from life, it is our duty to ensure that the world we leave is viable for many generations to come.
(Cohen, D, 2019) (Brief History of Statutory Law relating to Cremation in the U.K., 2021) (De Sousa, 2015)
75
