From top-down to people-centred urban recovery: a Beirut case study

The 15-year civil war resulted in extensive destruction of the city’s physical structures, particularly in its historic centre. What was once a vibrant, shared space became a buffer zone during the war. This area was traversed by the demarcation line between the two combatants, which over time turned into an overgrown strip containing dense vegetation, earning the name the ‘Green Line’. This line starkly divided the city centre into a predominantly Christian east and a largely Muslim west (Khalaf & Khoury 1993). After the war, there were calls to preserve this area and create a linear park as a unifying element between the two sides of the city (Interview A 2023). However, the voices of professionals, activists, and residents were ignored, as the government had different plans for the historic centre.

In 1994, a joint-stock real estate company named Solidere was established. Approved by the government under the prime minister, the billionaire Rafik Al-Hariri, the company was tasked with the reconstruction of the city’s devastated centre (Baecker 2013; El Khoury & Ardizzola 2021). Its mission was to restore the historic city centre to its pre-war condition and to create a new Central District for all Lebanese citizens. The company was granted the authority to purchase land within the designated central area, offering compensation to the original owners in the form of shares in the company (Ragab 2011; Badescu 2017; Interview A 2023). The Beirut Central District reconstruction and development project (Fig. 1) currently covers 191 hectares, of which 118 hectares initially constituted the traditional city centre, and 73 hectares are an expanded area reclaimed from the sea (Solidere 2004). Despite the wealth of historical structures within this area, Solidere adopted to use the tabula rasa method— many buildings were destroyed, even though they could have been reconstructed (Ragab 2011; Interview A 2023). Professionals, academics, and local residents attempted to oppose the reconstruction strategy adopted for the Beirut Central District, drafting alternative strategies (Khalaf & Khoury 1993; Rageb 2011; Interview B 2023); however, their objections were largely ignored. Consequently, a significant number of residents vacated the area, as they were unable to afford the costs associated with rebuilding according to the newly imposed standards. They sold their properties to Solidere, a transaction widely perceived as coerced expropriation (Mango 2004; Van der Krabben at al. 2020). When the former owners sought to repurchase their properties, they faced prohibitively high prices, making reacquisition impossible. This situation led to a predominance of luxury real estate ownership by affluent foreign investors (Badescu 2017; Interview A 2023). Although periods of economic stability attracted world-class retail establishments, these remained inaccessible to the local population, who could not afford to shop at these places. Additionally, the wealthy foreign owners seldom actually visited Beirut.

Figure 1.

Beirut Central District Master Plan created by Solidere’s architects and urbanists in 2014

Source: Solidere Annual Report

Despite bold claims by Solidere of a place ‘bustling with residents, daily visitors, and tourists’, the reality is quite the opposite. The centre remains largely empty, and its infrastructure does not offer the functional diversity which Solidere advertises on its website (Fig. 2, 3). Once a vibrant area, it has been left unoccupied by, and unpopular with, Lebanese people (Ragab 2011; Interview C 2023), and is devoid of active life. The originally proposed operational period for the company of 25 years was extended to 75 years just four years after its establishment (Solidere Annual Report 2014), which has allowed it to continue functioning to this day. As such, the company still has the opportunity to return the city centre back to its glory and to benefit all Lebanese citizens, as was originally intended. According to Respondent B, discussions with professionals regarding a shift in the development strategy, are currently underway (Interview B 2023). Whether a people-centred approach will be included in the new strategy, remains unknown.

Figure 2.

Empty Beirut Central District, 2 August 2023

Source: photo by author

Figure 3.

Empty Beirut Central District, 2 August 2023

Source: photo by author

The Hekmeh-Turk highway project, also known as the Fouad Boutros Highway, was proposed in the 1950s as part of the Ecochard master plan. A key component of the plan was the construction of urban highways which traversed or bypassed the city of Beirut (Verdeil 2005; Stop the Highway 2014a). While many of these roads were completed, some were delayed by the onset of the civil war, including the Fouad Boutros Highway. This was intended to pass through three neighbourhoods in east Beirut (Achrafieh, Rmeil, and Medawar) which contained significant architectural heritage. Prior to the war, the municipality had already expropriated land from the owners for the purpose of building this highway (Interview D 2023). However, when the municipality revived the project in May 2012, it faced strong opposition from professionals, civil society groups, and residents (Jabri 2023). This resistance led to civil mobilisation against the Fouad Boutros Highway, which sought to unite NGOs, associations, and groups, alongside experts, professionals, and academics from various urban-related fields, as well as the general public. They expressed their clear opposition to the project through a petition with a proposal for a green linear park (Stop the Highway 2014b). As a result, the project was halted.

A new project called Al-Masar Al-Akhdar (Fig. 4) was proposed, aiming to use the acquired municipal land for the development of a green linear park known as The Green Spine (this is similar to the concept of the Green Line proposed after the civil war instead of the demarcation line). The project was envisioned by the renowned Lebanese urban planner Habib Debs with support from Jad Tabet, and it was designed in collaboration with Francis Landscapes (Beirut Urban Lab 2023; Interview D 2023). Unfortunately, on 4 August 2020, a massive explosion at the port devastated a significant portion of the project area. But this did not deter the architects and urban planners from Beirut Urban Lab, who have been leading the overall project, from continuing their work. A comprehensive report on the ongoing urban processes in the affected area was prepared (Beirut Urban Lab & ACTED 2021). Additionally, data on 220 plots along the highway’s trajectory were documented and collected through field research, observation, interviews with residents, and land title analysis (Beirut Urban Lab et al. 2021). These data are intended to facilitate the project’s implementation. A small section of the area, The Mar Mikhael Square, was selected as a pilot project; this would serve as the basis for the continued implementation of the other parts of the Al-Masar Al-Akhdar project. Urban planners from Beirut Urban Lab, following a thorough participatory process conducted shortly after the explosion, proposed a people-centred urban design intervention to enhance pedestrian and social spaces (Fig. 5). After incorporating residents’ feedback and finalising the project design in 2020, they applied for the necessary construction permits. Although the project faced complex bureaucracy, it received approval after two years. Construction began in March 2023, and was due to be completed by July of the same year. Representatives from Beirut Urban Lab were present on-site even during the construction (Interview D 2023). However, during this phase, the project was halted at the request of the citizens themselves.

Figure 4.

The Al-Masar Al-Akhdar master plan, 2020

Source: Stop The Highway

Figure 5.

The Mar Mikhael Square master plan

Source: Own elaboration based on Beirut Urban Lab

It might seem that the project had successfully progressed through all stages—from its inception, supported and partially initiated by the wider public; through a comprehensive analytical and design phase involving professionals, experts, and the residents of the affected areas; to its implementation, during which Beirut Urban Lab staff were present on-site. However, in the context of political and religious confrontations, the residents were influenced by significant stakeholders in the area and subsequently rejected the project out of unfounded fear. As a result, the deputy mayor was forced to halt the project under pressure from political factions in the area (Interview D 2023). In response, Beirut Urban Lab promptly created a petition (Beirut Urban Lab 2023b), which was rapidly signed by 270 professionals specialising in urban planning, architecture, landscape design, and transportation. The petition aimed to not only counter false information but also to express the support which the project had from the expert community across Lebanon. The petition was published in French and Arabic by the Lebanese newspapers L’Orient-Le Jour and An-Nahar. According to an interview with Respondent B from August 2024, the project still remained suspended a year and a half later (Fig. 6, 7).

Figure 6.

Halted construction works on The Mar Mikhael Square, 1 August 2023

Source: photo by author

Figure 7.

Banner with visualizations of the project on the construction site, 1 August 2023

Source: photo by author

Karantina is a low-income neighbourhood in the northeastern part of Beirut. It is situated east of the port and north of the Charles Helou highway, which significantly isolates it from the rest of the city. The area comprises several sub-neighbourhoods which are inhabited by refugees from Palestine and Syria, as well as by migrant workers from Lebanon. The explosion on 4 August 2020—caused by ammonium nitrate—inflicted severe damage to both the lives and the physical infrastructure in the neighbourhood, making it one of the most devastated areas in all of Beirut. Despite the substantial national and international aid which the city received following the explosion, Karantina received the least attention (Al-Harithy & Yassine 2023). The lack of sufficient assistance, combined with extensive prior research in the area, prompted Beirut Urban Lab representatives to focus increased attention on the neighbourhood’s recovery.

Researchers from Beirut Urban Lab conducted in-situ research shortly after the explosion to assess the situation in the Karantina neighbourhood. After identifying the most pressing issues and the key stakeholders in the area, they realised that the area needed a long-term recovery plan. Over the course of a two-year project, they developed a holistic urban recovery strategy. It has been structured as a five-step project and serves as a strategic framework for the recovery of the Karantina neighbourhood (Interview E, 2023). The project consists of the following steps:

Descriptive Memory - pre-diagnosis to identify cross-border issues (Al-Harithy et al. 2021)

A crucial part of the process was community trust-building through bottom-up initiatives, particularly via the engagement of citizen scientists. The 12 citizen scientists involved are active local residents selected and trained by Beirut Urban Lab (Interview E 2023). Those selected represent a diverse cross-section of Karantina’s population; they typically have basic literacy skills but lack a university degree. Their role, which is paid and continues beyond the project’s completion in 2022, includes collecting data, supervising works, organising workshops, being intermediaries between contractors and Urban Lab, resolving tensions, and informing about current issues (Interview E 2023). In parallel with the development of the strategic framework, Beirut Urban Lab implemented a spatial intervention in the Al-Khodor sub-neighbourhood to engage community groups and apply a participatory method. This spatial intervention was one of the action plans carried out in Karantina—Action Plan 13—which was focused on creating an easily accessible open space network (Al-Harithy et al. 2022c). The intervention started with the completion of surveys and heat maps which identified areas of concentrated activity. These demonstrated that Mashgara Street was the most significant public space within the Al-Khodor sub-neighbourhood (Al-Harithy & Yassine 2023). In June 2021, three co-design workshops were conducted in order to gather the residents’ input concerning site selection and its future design, and to finalise and approve the design proposal for an inclusive, safe, and well-serviced public space. During these workshops, residents had access to visual and 3D materials to help them better understand the plans (Al-Harithy & Yassine 2023; Interview E 2023). Construction plans were drawn up by a team of designers based on the outcomes and visions obtained from the workshops (unfortunately, the plans are not accessible). Implementation began after obtaining permits from the Beirut municipality (whose representatives were part of the consultations) in December 2021, and concluded in May 2022 (Interview E 2023). Throughout the process, the trained citizen scientists were present to address emerging issues and ensure the project’s smooth execution. They continue to fulfil their role today by overseeing the functionality and quality of the resulting community space.

During the author’s in-situ research in August 2023, the public space was found to be undamaged, well-maintained, and actively utilised (Fig. 8, 9). The project’s positive outcome and the necessity for people-centred urban recovery was affirmed by its authors, Al-Harithy and Yassine (2023), in a later article. The success of the recovery project will continue to be measured through a monitoring system based on several indicators; these are to be assessed every five years (Al-Harithy et al. 2023). The overall project stands as a model for successful urban recovery, achieving a balance between top-down and bottom-up planning approaches.

Figure 8:

Mashgara Street after the implementation of spatial intervention, Summer 2023

Source: photo by author

Figure 9:

Mashgara Street after the implementation of spatial intervention, Summer 2023

Source: photo by author