The Reconstruction of Beirut
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PW,OSPE@TS FOR LEBANON The Reconstructiolm of Beiru t ------ - ---- -. -- --.- -. -- Centre for Lebanese Studies ------ -- - -- -- --- - -- -- - 59 Observatory Street, Oxford OX2 6EP. Tel: 0865-58465 Prospects for Lebanon The Reconstruction of Beirut by Oussama Kabbani September 1992 - -- -. --- - -- --- ---- Centre for Lebanese Studies ------ - --- -- = - -- -- - 59 Observatory Street, Oxford OX2 6EP. Tel: 0865-58465 O Oussama Kabbani 1992 Published by the Centre for Lebanese Studies Oxford The Centre for Lebanese Studies is a privately-funded, independent research institution devoted to the study of Lebanon, its history and the issues presently confronting it. Books in the Centre's series are published in the interest of public information. They represent the free expression of their authors' opinions and do not necessaiily indicate the judgement or opinion of the Centre. ISBN 1 870552 34 2 ISSN: 0953-734 1 Designed and Typeset by Bridget Harney Printed in Great Britain by Oxonian Rewley Press Ltd. Table of Contents Acknowledgements vii I 11. Executive Summary 3 111. 0 v erv ie w 5 1. The Beirut Central District Master Plan and the Real Estate Company Law 2. Controversial Aspects of the BCD Master Planandthe RECLaw 3. Post-war Reconstruction: Long-Tern Objectives vs. Immediate Concerns 4. An Assessment of the Post-war Reconstruction Plan a) Privatisation of Reconstruction b) Centralisation c) Lack of Public Participation IV. The Real Estate Company Law 1. Constitutional Questions 2. Procedural Concerns 3. Assessment V. The Physical Aspects of the Master Plan 1. Urban and A rchitectural Aspects 2. Preserving the Historic and Archaeological Heritage 3. Environmental Concerns 4. Assessment VI. The Social Ramifications of the Master Plan 1. Social Classes and Public Spaces 2. The BCD Master Plan and Social Reintegration VII. Other Approaches to the REC Scheme VIII. Conclusion Select Bibliography List of Illustrations A. The city of Beirut in 1976, p. ix B. Beirut Central Business District, aerial view, 1991, p. ix Fig 1. Beirut Central Business District, existing conditions, 1973, p. 6. Fig 2. Beirut Central Business District, proposed Master Plan, 1991, p. 7. Fig 3. The three major axes of the urban design proposal, p. 10. Fig 4. An overall view of the proposed BCD Master Plan, p. 13. Fig 5. A depiction of the proposed 'World Trade Centre' twin towers, p. 13. Fig 6. The Island and the main bridge, p. 14. Fig 7. The proposed open trench ring-road, p. 33. Fig 8. Typical section of the proposed open trench ring-road, p. 33. Fig 9. The northern section of the open well ring-road, p. 35. Fig 10. Bird's eye view of the proposed boulevard which will replace Burj Square, p. 37. Fig 11. The mental image of Beirut Centre as remembered by people above the age of 45, p. 39. Fig 12. The mental image of Beirut Centre as remembered by people between the ages of 25 and 45, p. 40. Fig 13. The mental image of Beirut Centre as remembered by the war generation below the age of 25, p. 41. Fig 14. The main bridge connecting the BCD to the proposed Island, p. 43. Fig 15. Artistic rendering of the proposed pedestrian souqs, p. 48. Fig 16. View of the boulevard space from old Burj Square, p. 5 1. Fig 17. Artistic rendering of the office complex proposed as replacement to the Port basin No. I., p. 53. Acknowledgements I would like to thank the Centre for Lebanese Studies (CLS) for inviting me to their ~ondbnconference on the Reconstruction of Beirut and for entrusting me with the write-up of the proceedings. Many friends, old and new, all of whom share a special interest in the future of Beirut, should be acknowledged for contributing to the genesis of this report. I wish to acknowledge the conference speakers for most of the material published in this report: Attorney Joseph Takla for the information on the Red1 Estate Company Law and Mr Salim Saadeh, MP for his critical assessment of the law from a political perspective; Dr Fouad Awada (Conseil Regional d'Ile de France) and Professor Jad Tabet (Urban Research Institute) for much of the analysis of the urban architectural aspects of the Master Plan; Dr Georges Corm and Mr Ghias el-Yafi (CLS) for the economic and political aspects of reconstruction; Dr Nabil Bey hu m (American University of Beirut) for his passionate campaign to humanise the proposed physical environment in Beirut and for raising many of the social issues relating to reconstruction; Mr Samir Lahoud, Mr Assem Salam and Dr Georges Zouein for their opening remarks whilst chairing the individual sessions which proved to be invaluable to maintaining a focused debate; Mr George Asseily (CLS) for his intervention and concluding remarks which provided me with arguments in support of the plan. I must also acknowledge Professor Michael Davie (Universitk de Tour) for his post-conference correspondence on the social aspects of the Master Plan. Special thanks to Dar al-Handasah (Shair and partners) and the Lebanese Council for Development and Reconstruction for providing copies of the Master Plan and to Project Architect Henry Eddeh for taking time to discuss the Master Plan with me during a visit to Beirut. The timeless discussion with Hashim Sarkis (Harvard University & Plan B), Abdul- vii Halim Jabr (Dar al-I3andasa.h) and Prataap Patrose (Boston Redevelopment Authority) sharpened the content of this report considerably. CLS director Mr Nadim Shehadi's humourous spirit, comments, and encouraging phone calls made the writing of this report very enjoyable. I owe the greatest debt and I am especially grateful to Dr Fida Nasrallah (CLS), who excised flawed words and entire sentences with deadly editorial precision and proved beyond any doubt that fax machines have once and for all eliminated geographical and temporal boundaries. Many thanks also to Bridget Harney for designing and typesetting this report. The biggest support came from Kathryn Lowry (Harvard University) who edited the first draft and continues to be a source of encouragement in the hope that she too can visit Beirut and witness its renaissance sometime in the near future. Oussama Kabbani Boston, September 1992 .. , Vlll Limits of Dar Master Plan I A. (above) The city of Beirut in 1976. B. (below) Beirut Central Business District, aerial view, 1991. Introduction ~ .... '' . ;'. :' . ..... .. , . , , This report is a brief summ;ay of.. .the . issues,d&ba~;.a.. .: <., ., . .- .,..- - . a oneday conference '. - . .. -. *-.ii;.,,,... on the reconstruction of the.. ~ei~~.,~~~~~:$$$&&,.,~i~aict . organised by the Centre for Lebanese 'stu&&. : .. : - . sod,. :. h$it$@~&~i.~own. : . ,,. ,, .,.. ..:~-;*.~l*,51-. , . , and Country . , ... ..-:: ; . .. ,> ., .- .. , .+.! p.2z:~~;$c~~*~j~>-:. ,., ., Planning Association in ~&bs~:~~~~,:~g$~~4;~&~~i~992 A group of :. \:("..> , , , ,~.~,..... :..., . ..>-, >,*p,s.,5<.-' . ,... .>*, , ,:.: ,>. ., :;:s-.:;?.~~:?&;>.;. :'~: planners, economists, lawyer$^^.;.. ,-c2~!~,~..,.y ..,... desl:gne@t>:~&iQ~.I~gi~s, . .. researchers, ,:. ,:. ~. .>,~ .,;;: ~~?3~5$%9.,"~.$2&.~<:?:~-~.: geographers and business ,pe~~~~d&~,s&.::vc~~~@~~~cts,: . .. , ,..... of the project .... " . .;:; . .- I>?Z, .:J,>!4w>q5;*.?i&:$:~,;:~.:,;, presented for the post-war ...reconstruction :of~jBBe~~~~$$+$~~$$i;.I~~.. , .. ,.. s,s:.x .< - - - ... .,.-,. ' >,. ,.. 3. ."" . - .- ....-,.,... +:"- , -<<2:x&?&=q"...-..-, - .. ;..' .. ..:.-.., . -.. *;.. .,,.,:....yp--, f.*>*--:!-. Participants explored v~$~~$:,as~&c:~&~~;;~p~gt::;~g~: plan for the .,. >,:. ..,:. ~. , .*,....,.. :,*,,< ? ,.3p 5 ,. , . .. .. .. , ._, - . ,~.,:.<;! *.%<5 *.A.s% y..?,<.:;?;::-j..;;. r.. _ reconstruction of one square ~lometreifi&e.~e~~~fi~~.:~is~ct..., L,. ;,>,. ..: (BCD) < :-:, ~:<+~,&sg*+?~>-:'~:,;<<<>':~~.;;,, ., : . ... .. .. .....,.... A, prepared by Dar al-Handasah., , _ L.,>*,, Council consultants, , ~(DARJ~~ii;8~$pbanese .< ..:,.2.t ~>.s~$!+;:;~~~;;$&:*2~~.2.2?~;- :, *. v ., <.,.- , . :~:' ' for Development and recons~ct~n. (CDR),,..:..j ;;;;;;,~q;;;g%:~i..i;,;;j;i~ :,,,I/, , :. ~ . .,, ,: .:,:;\;,:?<$; :k$&g;i ::::.:;: :, . , , ,, . At the heart of the di&us&& ' t~:':(:B~$~@~&~~a~;jts..,~,effects,, -- in , ., , ;..,.-., ..>::: ..;: A&<- .,T- ~...F.,,.\. ,, . .. :.,z<:&"+ ~$+*~o:7~;:-<:..:,~,:.~:., ., .,;, : shaping the evolution of Lebanon...-? as a,'~h~~~~~~~m:weoanom~c . ., ....:.:.,," .-.,,.w:e+) 3:> A,., k. .s,..-.., political ,;>.,3".<+; ..;, ~jy~~~~~~.-~~>,~~~.~j~;;~~.' :.:: . , ....,,. ... ..*..._I,. lu and sociological perspective. Many of the. conf~~~~~G:lPan~~~belie~ed. .-..+gsiii.Gr*; , i+-B--.g,FB*xt:i3;~;+: _..; ;. -.~ that the post-war recons~ction" the ~~~~&~~~$:j~~:~~~~~try. ,,..- "A 2 ,. - - as a of , ,. ,. ...& *:F?.,<?,. -,~.!~>:<<u-~?:;i:~:~~CC1':.-r-rl:~:: . ., , , . .:'.7 -., ..>;:r . whole were national priorities which needed.., to;j)t=jw,pported ., .... c.4.~,$~q~; ,.:..,?, (a:..r2x3 a:;-.T ,qnam~mously. ..?,- .. , .- ., ~" .~ They, however, voiced their concerns abou~:[:!&~?fi~&~~$s~~~b$,..7F.:c,,iisl'4-.. .i..~. which , , , ,. ,.:; .:, ;.?!.. ,.. ,, .. :: "~':;.,.'~.,<'- ..; - - reconstruction is being planned. Some partiiG.mtg;.:~med.. , ,r .,+ .", ,-.L.7,L-2..l:T..: . .,,.?:,, *, l, .*.::. .. >, .. xj:,.:$,,:q,+~..7 :against !:-,:,::. the prevailing official tendency to prinatise the reco~~~~~~on,of:.h&:BCD..... :.. ~ . .:.! ... and to relax governmental control over the project.which+b.o,u~d-?5h,mpromise . ., .~ziz+.,2z.~c;,~.. ..:.I:~...:: ~:i;2:=.-..;;. public interest and lead to a monopoly over fin&ci&l.:fim of,the ;. ,,... .., .::;-i - - . ,.y,.y.. .. ~~, ,. ,