Law, Rights, and Justice in Informal Settlements: The Crossed Frames of Reference of Town Planning in a Large Urban Development Project in Beirut

Clerc, Valérie

doi:10.5743/cairo/9789774165405.003.0013

Cited by 4 publications

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“…Urban planning has often a strategic role in times of wars, as it was in Lebanon, where urban planning was used to displace populations away from a territory, a militarily coveted space or a speculative land [Verdeil 2001]. Conflicts are indeed exceptional times, when the bones of the territorial, political and economic strategic dimensions of urban planning decisions lay bare, at the detriment of the ideal representations of the city [Clerc 2012b]. A few observations will illustrate the evolution of urban public action in Syria and Damascus in the course of the first two years of the uprising and subsequent conflict.…”

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confidence: 99%

Informal Settlements in the Syrian Conflict: Urban Planning as a Weapon

Clerc¹

2014

Built Eviron

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Uprising and war in Syria have induced changes in urban policies towards informal settlements. Syrian urban policies in the 2000s set the issue of informal settlements as a priority item in the agenda. The reform of the legislative urban frameworks, designed with international assistance, and new master plans encouraged both their regularization / upgrading and their renewal (destruction / reconstruction). While competition between these models and objectives delayed decisions and program implementation in Damascus, the beginnings of the Arab Spring elsewhere in the region influenced the orientation of these policies, showing in which different ways urban planning can be used for strategic reasons. Initially, the Syrian uprising led to an inflexion of policies towards more social options for regularization. Subsequently, as it developed into an armed conflict, and with the escalation of physical destructions, the urban renewal option was favoured and overlapped military targets. In return, conflict, destruction and displacements have led to put all urban options back on the table for reconsideration, in the prospects of future reconstruction. This article discusses policies towards informal settlements in Syria before and during the uprising with a special focus on the case study of urban policies in the metropolitan area of Damascus.

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confidence: 99%

Informal Settlements in the Syrian Conflict: Urban Planning as a Weapon

Clerc¹

2014

Built Eviron

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“…Prior to becoming Prime minister, Hariri pushed for the Elyssar project as soon as the civil war ended in late 1990 (Quilty & Ohrstrom, 2007). Upon taking office in 1992, the project progressed due to political negotiations between the government, which wanted to reclaim those areas, and the Shia parties Amal and Hezbollah, who played a prominent role for the predominantly Shia areas under their control (Clerc, 2012).…”

Section: Negotiations Held Prior To the Establishment Of Elyssarmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Former Prime Minister Hariri attempted to apply this knowledge to the Elyssar project by establishing another private real estate business for the southern suburbs under the same statute that established Solidere. However, this approach was hindered by the Shia political organizations Amal and Hezbollah, which are well-rooted in the southern suburbs (Clerc, 2012). The intervention of different political groups in the inception of a large-scale project casts questions on the nature of Elyssar.…”

Section: Sectarian Politics: Key To the Inception And Demise Of The E...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Elyssar Project in Lebanon. (c2022)

Fakhry¹

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Following the Taif Agreement in 1989 and the establishment of the Rafic Hariri-led governments from 1992 to 1998, reconstruction became a key word in the Lebanese political discourse. This reconstruction was depicted as a solution to the postwar city's challenges as well as a vehicle for positive social and political transformation. The post-war experiences in Lebanon provided a vivid case study of the neoliberal ideology's obvious ambiguities and inconsistencies. This thesis provides a detailed analysis of the Elyssar project, a major urban development project that focused on rebuilding Beirut’s Southwestern areas. It is an important project to examine in order to show that Elyssar was anchored in a model that combined elements of sectarian politics with neoliberal thinking. The research examines why Elyssar has been stalled for decades highlighting the hazy boundary that existed in postwar Lebanon between political objectives, architecture, and private interests. Our findings reveal the influence of sectarianism on urban development initiatives and how it is enforced through large-scale urban initiatives in Lebanon.

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Vertical Property Challenges to the “Rights of Return”: The Case of Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon

Samhan,

Boano

2024

Innovations for Land Management, Governance, and Land Rights for Sustainable Urban Transitions

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Law, Rights, and Justice in Informal Settlements: The Crossed Frames of Reference of Town Planning in a Large Urban Development Project in Beirut

Cited by 4 publications

References 0 publications

Informal Settlements in the Syrian Conflict: Urban Planning as a Weapon

Informal Settlements in the Syrian Conflict: Urban Planning as a Weapon

The Elyssar Project in Lebanon. (c2022)

Vertical Property Challenges to the “Rights of Return”: The Case of Palestinian Refugee Camps in Lebanon

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