Beirut: From A City Under-Construction To City Of The Future
With a population of over 2.1 million and a size area of 20km2, Beirut is the capital and largest city of Lebanon.
Throughout history and until the end of a fifteen year civil war (13 April 1975 -13 October 1990), Beirut has been destroyed five times, recreating itself over and over again. Rebuilding the future on the remains of a stolen past became more of a déjà vu that was being replicated with the uncertainty and instability that came with it.
Considered as the center of business, politics and entertainment in Lebanon, Beirut was the only place that embraced all communities, religions and cultures, and ironically enough it was the first place that had been destroyed. Instead of being seen as a sign of richness and uniqueness, the religious differences became a factor of separation and violence shredding the nation to pieces.
Therefore, rebuilding the city of Beirut had to go far beyond construction and architecture, putting together the broken infrastructure of its people, demoralized and demotivated by this endless scenario.
People being the heart of their cities, in the case of Lebanon, its capital was in the heart of its people, an incentive that placed Beirut back on the map as an emerging city, planning for a sustainable future
The chaotic atmosphere that reigned for fifteen years brought a considerable number of social and political issues that made the planning of the city a complicated task.
The contested transformation of Beirut is due to the ever-changing zoning laws that allowed developers to use more space for construction on their lots by building more skyscrapers. This increase in high rises made the streets even more congested, giving Beirut a saturated appearance that can seem overwhelming to some people preferring a more spacious environment with less noise pollution and higher exposure to natural lighting.
In many ways, architects seeking to improve the city’s green potential are attempting to retroactively correct an internal infrastructure that never had a master plan, and was an ad-hoc result of population densification.
This uncontrolled development was erasing the authentic heritage of the city, therefore it was a challenge to preserve the combination of French, Italian and ottoman houses that added to the natural mixed flavor of the city.
Moreover, the nature of the Government; where politics and sectarianism constantly overlap, comes at the expense of the common good, creating a lack of trust in the public sector.
The fact that the private interest is taking over the public interest, is leading to the creation of a marginalised community that is developing on the base of self-interest and self-satisfaction. Therefore, everyone is looking to fulfill their own needs leaving behind the concept of common good and community interest.
The cultural behavior of the community translates a self-detachment that should be more of a governmental concern especially when the real estate sector is evaluated as an important factor in the GDP. And that real estate owners have the power to decide how the city is going to be built, without any consideration to the community’s needs. As a result of that, real estate is seen as a productive sector whose sole purpose is to generate personal profit regardless to their responsibility towards a community they are part of.
A suggested solution would be to slap taxes on real estate development to be used specifically for the development of common good.
The boost in efforts to go green in the city is partly due to the Mayor of the municipality of Beirut; Bilal Hamad, leading the adoption of numerous eco-friendly projects. He believes that: “The environment is a very important issue for Beirut, where the ratio of green space per capita is the lowest in the area”
Lebanon’s capital has just 0.6 square meters per capita of public green space, a statistic that renders the city “unhealthy” by WHO standards. To correct the ratio, half the city would have to be demolished.
Beirut is below average where environmentally friendly urban planning is concerned. The solution should begin with the rehabilitation of the existing spaces, like the public gardens of Sanayeh, Sioufi and Geitawi.
The mayor’s hesitation to launch a full-scale green-oriented urban planning program might have something to do with the government’s protracted implementation process, which can take up to a year. Whereas having a grant would facilitate the process in terms of bureaucracy and timeframe challenges.
Getting a green light for these types of projects, is a difficult task especially when it comes to convincing investors that the high initial costs are worthwhile in the long term.
However, in terms of creating a more environmentally friendly city, smaller initiatives are not sufficient. More drastic measures should be implemented such as the Damascus Road project in order to make Beirut a qualified candidate when it comes to complying with international standards.
In 1992, and as a starting point in the rehabilitation process, the French Agency for Development Ile-De-France and the Municipality of Beirut signed an agreement for the Urban Development of the City of Beirut.
This agreement should enable the launching of multiple projects aiming at improving infrastructure that could revitalize activity in the capital.
According to the Ambassador of France in Lebanon, Denis Pietton: “Financing studies for the improvement of urban development in Beirut in terms of transport including non-aggressive transport vehicles, but even in terms of green spaces and street lighting.”
The project will focus on the construction of:
- A pedestrian area
- A special lane for cyclists
- Public Spaces: Percentage of green spaces in Lebanon in general, and Beirut specifically have been declining drastically allowing pollution to increase at alarming levels. In a study conducted on Sanayeh Garden; one of the biggest parks of the city, it was concluded that this space can absorb 600 tons of co2 which equals the emissions of 375 cars in one year.
As a complementary approach to the rehabilitation process, awareness initiatives are being conducted by NGO’S through partnerships with the public sector, using sports as a team-building tool enhancing community engagement amongst citizens. Activities are being implemented on Sundays for people to enjoy their city and benefit from the areas that had been closed for this purpose. Moreover these activities serve as a reminder that loyalty to ones country comes before religion and political affiliation.
The acknowledgement of a problem is half way to recovery, and the creation of bridges that could lead to solutions is a social achievement in itself.
Therefore, Beirut is on the right path for recovery.
Sources:
http://cmbeirut.org/content/promoting-non-aggressive-vehicles-beirut
http://www.codatu.org/calendar/november-7-2012-website-creation-region-ile-de-france-to-beirut/
http://attheedgeofthecity.wordpress.com/
http://www.worldviewcities.org/beirut/urban.html
Comments Off on Beirut: From A City Under-Construction To City Of The Future /
16 Dec 2013
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rimaelkhoury
IMSD /
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