A Glossary of Decolonial Terms: Transforming Research Practices in the Built Environment Faculty

Developing a comprehensive glossary of decolonial terms to address the absence of such a resource in the built environment field.

Drawing on the expertise of scholars, practitioners and community stakeholders from diverse backgrounds, the project team curated a list of decolonial terms relevant to the field of the built environment. 

The project team anticipated that identifying words with non-Western etymological roots would be challenging yet feasible. However, it was soon realised how deeply Western concepts and terminologies dominate the language of the built environment across research, education, and professional practice. For instance, terms such as urbanism, infrastructure, architecture, and modernism all originate in Europe. A 2024 analysis of 53 terms from the Language of Architecture, found 100% had Western etymological roots. Through workshops and consultations, emphasising inclusivity by incorporating perspectives from multiple lived experiences, this was expanded to 234 terms, fewer than 1.3% lacked Western origins. 

The goals of the glossary were to identify and amplifying non-Western vocabularies. The glossary will evolve as a ‘living document,’ subject to alterations and updates. 

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