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Between the Future and Survival in Lebanon

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Between the Future and Survival in Lebanon Between the Future and Survival in Lebanon C o r p o r a t e U r b a n i z a t i o n By Deen Shariff Sharp, 2018 i © 2018 Deen Shariff Sharp All Rights Reserved ii Corporate Urbanization: Between the Future and Survival in Lebanon by Deen Shariff Sharp This manuscript has been read and accepted for the Graduate Faculty in Earth and Environmental Sciences in satisfaction of the dissertation requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Date [Marianna Pavlovskaya] Chair of Examining Committee Date [Cindi Katz] Executive Officer Supervisory Committee: Marianna Pavlovskaya Michael Sorkin Jillian Schwedler Timothy Mitchell THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK iii ABSTRACT Corporate Urbanization: Between the Future and Survival in Lebanon by Deen Shariff Sharp Advisor: Marianna Pavlovskaya If you look today at the skyline of downtowns throughout the Middle East and beyond, the joint- stock corporation has transformed the urban landscape. The corporation makes itself present through the proliferation of its urban mega-projects, including skyscrapers, downtown developments and gated communities; retail malls and artificial islands; airports and ports; and highways. Built into these corporate urban structures are edifices of politics, ideology and certain forms of socio-spatial and temporal organization. The corporation, however, has largely escaped critical scholarly analysis in Geography and/or Urban and Middle East Studies. In this thesis, I argue that the corporation is far more than a mere business enterprise and is in fact one of the most important apparatuses in the organization of our socio-spatial relations. Through an analysis of the 19th-century French joint-stock corporation, Compagnie Impériale Ottomane de la Route Beyrouth-Damas, and Solidere the corporation that led the reconstruction of Beirut following the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1991), this thesis considers and explores the force of the corporation in assembling socio-spatial relations and certain urban futures. Drawing on work in Science and Technology Studies (STS) and Geography, I consider the process of capitalization, which is central to how the corporation organizes its operations. Capitalization represents the present value of a future stream of earnings. I argue that capitalization is now central to the urbanization process and that the urban fabric has provided the corporation with a durable structure to guarantee a stream of income. Capitalized urbanization, I contend, is the building of a certain future into the urban present - also understood as the extension of time (the future) through the concentration of space (urbanization). It is therefore not only an economic proposition but one that necessitates broader socio-political and spatial control. In the case of the Compagnie, I argue, through its capitalization this corporation established a new power network that not only generated great profits for its shareholders but also contributed to the rise of Beirut as a central trading hub and facilitated the French domination of the Levant. The establishment of Solidere would once again create an urban corporate imposition that greatly altered the socio- spatial relations of Beirut and Lebanon more broadly. Solidere, I contend was central to the formation of the Second Lebanese Republic. Through Solidere’s corporate socio-spatial apparatus and its capitalization of the built environment, the company was able to build a certain future into the urban present, foreclosing other possible futures and socio-spatial formations. iv Now I will tell how Octavia, the spider-web city, is made… Suspended over the abyss, the life of Octavia’s inhabitants is less certain than in other cities. They know the net will last only so long. Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities v Acknowledgements There are no self-made PhDs. I have accumulated many debts–financial, emotional and intellectual, to name but a few–to countless numbers of people over the years. Debts I will likely never be able to repay. I hope, however, that this acknowledgement to all those who have helped me along the way can at least be a (albeit small) testament to my profound gratitude for the generosity that I have experienced in writing this thesis. Taija, my partner in life, thank you for everything. This PhD is first and foremost dedicated to you. For better or worse, it would not exist without you. You are the foundation on which I live. My thanks to my parents whose love (or perhaps fanaticism is more accurate) for architecture and books was bound to seep through to me somehow. To Mum, Yasmin, you are my most ferocious supporter and critic. Without your constant and unrelenting intellectual energy, I would never have taken the circuitous journey that led me to do a PhD in Geography. This thesis is also dedicated to the memory of my father, Dennis. Your presence is always felt, no more so than in my writing. Studying and working at the City University of New York (CUNY) has been, to say the least, an experience. CUNY you are the best of institutions, you are the worst of institutions. I am deeply grateful to have been able to study under, work with and learn from several incredible faculty members. I am particularly indebted to Setha Low, who assisted me greatly in the early part of my studies at CUNY. Marianna Pavlovskaya has been a great advisor in seeing me to the end. Thank you both. I also appreciated the chance to learn from, and receive the support of, Jillian Schwedler, Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Mandana Limbert. My fellow students and colleagues at CUNY have all been wonderfully supportive and made this journey a less lonely one, in particular Denisse, Nathanial, Rafa, Robin and Sam. CUNY has also meant that I had the chance to teach an incredibly diverse and passionate student body. The students at City College were deeply inspiring in their commitment to social justice, empowerment and intellectual thought. When I needed reminding as to why I had chosen to pursue a PhD and was so passionate about education, they were always powerful prompters! Special thanks to Aber Kawas, Reem Aliessa, Jennifer Arieta and Kira Rakova. Michael Sorkin has been a been a wonderful mentor and a well of inspiration, to whom I am deeply indebted to. Michael supported me in publishing my first book, which I edited with Claire Panetta, Beyond the Square. Both the experience of editing the book and working with Claire assisted me greatly in writing this dissertation and in honing my scholarly skills. Michael has also brought me into the Terreform family that in their insane way has kept me sane throughout the writing of this dissertation. Thank you Vyjayanthi, Cecilia, Nic, Andrea and Trudy and all the other Terreformers that have come and gone over the years. vi I am also grateful to Timothy Mitchell. Tim’s course Colonialism that I took in the Spring 2014 semester, which focused on the question of the corporation, influenced the focus of this thesis profoundly. Thank you also to Sheherbano and the Burkis who were such wonderful hosts when I was doing archival research at the World Bank. In Lebanon, I also accumulated a number of debts. Beirut-a city I fell in love with while a working as a journalist from 2007-2010, the site of my first home with Taija-in all its troubles and glory, beauty and warts, has been a constant inspiration and exasperation. This thesis is dedicated to all the Beirutis that make this city such a special place and to their struggle for survival in this metropolis of scars. I am grateful to Yasser Akkaoui and the team at Executive Magazine who gave me my first full time job in journalism. This experience facilitated my daily lessons of the ins and outs of Beirut. I am particularly thankful for the professional and intellectual support of Tarek Sinno, George Arbid and his team at the Arab Center for Architecture, Abdul-Halim Jabr, Mona Harb and the many other American University of Beirut scholars that I talked to over the years. Your generosity in giving me your time and knowledge of Lebanon enabled me to write with a depth that would otherwise not have been possible. Thank you also to Rowina Bou-Harb and the Sursock Museum archive. For making Beirut feel like home, I have to thank our Beirut family. Lodi and the Khairallahs/el- Wazzis who were our first neighbors in Achrafieh when we lived in the French Mandate building just behind the Hotel Albergo, thank you for your warmth, openness and generosity. Claire, Geoff, Léa, the Tareks, Ghada, Dara, Adam, Natalia, Paul, Nadine, Rox, Ben, Irina, Spencer, Matthias, you all made Beirut a special place in our hearts. It is because of you that my connection to, and passion for, Beirut and Lebanon has remained so strong. Without you all, I no doubt would not have written about this city at all. This thesis is also dedicated to the memory of my dear friends John Redwine and Toiko Tõnisson Kleppe, who both left us too soon. vii Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………….1-40 Chapter One: The Corporation: The Last 1,000 Years……………………………...41-80 Chapter Two: Corporate Urbanization: Building a Future into the Present……........81-107 Chapter Three: The Corporation and the Rise of Beirut…………………………….108-135 Chapter Four: Corporate Building and the Second Lebanese Republic……………..136-177 Chapter Five: A Paradise in a Box…………………………………………………..178-213 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………...214-217 viii List of Images, Figures and Boxes Images: Image One: Graffiti in Beirut Central District near Abu Rakhousa Souk……………….......3 Image Two: First organizational
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