NARRATIVES IN URBAN ENVIRONMENT: SIGNATURES OF BDD A Thesis presented to the Faculty of Humanities at Notre Dame University-Louaize In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Electronic Journalism & Public Relations by ALI HAMDAN March 2021 © COPYRIGHT By Ali Hamdan 2021 All Rights Reserved NARRATIVES IN URBAN ENVIRONMENT: SIGNATURES OF BDD 3 Notre Dame University- Louaize Faculty of Humanities Department of Media Studies We hereby approve the thesis of Ali HAMDAN Candidate for the degree of Electronic Journalism & Public Relations Dr. Christy Mady Supervisor Dr. Paul Jahshan Committee Member Dr. Jessica El-Khoury Committee Member Dr. Maria Bou Zeid NARRATIVES IN URBAN ENVIRONMENT: SIGNATURES OF BDD 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to record my deep sense of gratitude and profound th anks to my research supervisor Dr. Christy Mady for her inspiring guidance and constant encouragement during all stages to bring this thesis into fruition. I would also want to extend my appreciation to those who could not be mentioned here but have well played their role to inspire me behind the curtain. NARRATIVES IN URBAN ENVIRONMENT: SIGNATURES OF BDD 5 TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................................ 4 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS ....................................................................................................... 8 ABSTRACT......................................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined. LITERATURE REVIEW ...............................................................Error! Bookmark not defined. Urbanism ................................................................................................................................. 11 How A Place Speaks ............................................................................................................... 15 Beirut....................................................................................................................................... 17 Phase One: The Emergence of Cosmopolitan Beirut, the Levant’s Doorway..................... 20 Phase Two: “Petit Paris” and the French Mandate. .......................................................... 20 Phase Three: The Fast Urbanization and the Emergence of Misery Belts.......................... 21 Phase Four: Civil Strife and Urbanization.......................................................................... 22 Phase Five: Post-War Re-urbanization ............................................................................... 22 Beirut Digital District ............................................................................................................. 28 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................Error! Bookmark not defined. Flânerie ................................................................................................................................... 30 Theory of Military Urbanism.................................................................................................. 34 Research Questions ................................................................................................................. 39 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ...................................................Error! Bookmark not defined. Sample and Procedure............................................................................................................. 40 NARRATIVES IN URBAN ENVIRONMENT: SIGNATURES OF BDD 6 Interview 40 Observation 40 Procedure 41 Concepts 42 Urbanism. ............................................................................................................ 42 Flânerie. ............................................................................................................... 42 Beirut Digital District. ........................................................................................ 42 Military Urbanism .............................................................................................. 43 Data Analysis ....................................................................................................................... 43 Ethical Consideration .......................................................................................................... 43 Limitations 43 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ......................................................Error! 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City.......................................................................................................................................... 46 Beirut....................................................................................................................................... 50 Services ................................................................................................................................... 58 Cultural ................................................................................................................................... 59 The Persona of Beirut ............................................................................................................. 60 Beirut Identity ......................................................................................................................... 65 Beirut Digital District ............................................................................................................. 69 BDD as Propaganda............................................................................................................ 69 NARRATIVES IN URBAN ENVIRONMENT: SIGNATURES OF BDD 7 Seductive urbanism .............................................................................................................. 70 Miniature of Beirut .............................................................................................................. 71 Metamorphosis..................................................................................................................... 72 Fusion and Confusion .......................................................................................................... 72 De-colonization .................................................................................................................... 73 Algorithm 73 Third Place 74 The Opposite of Beirut ......................................................................................................... 75 Visual Cues 75 Military Urbanism ............................................................................................................... 77 CONCLUSION ................................................................................Error! 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NARRATIVES IN URBAN ENVIRONMENT: SIGNATURES OF BDD 8 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1 .............................................................................................................................73 Figure 2 .............................................................................................................................77 Figure 3 .............................................................................................................................82 Figure 4 .............................................................................................................................85 Figure 5 .............................................................................................................................86 Figure 6 .............................................................................................................................87 Figure 7 .............................................................................................................................88 NARRATIVES IN URBAN ENVIRONMENT: SIGNATURES OF BDD 9 Abstract Beirut is a collage of urban styles due to the influence of Memluki, Ottoman, and the French mandate on its urban development. Beirut Digital District (BDD) is a unique cluster of innovation and entrepreneurship dedicated to creating a hub for the digital and creative community in Lebanon. The purpose of this study is to unravel the identity of BDD through a detailed reading and analysis of its multi-layered built environment. Flânerie and military urbanism theories are used to investigate the urban dress of BDD. Using the qualitative research method, in-depth interviews with 27 authors, journalists, researchers, urban planners, architects and other experts were conducted to obtain more focused explanations and perspective about the urbanism of BDD, and observation theory to collect data from the buildings, colors, shapes, and all the visual cues throughout BDD. It is found that BDD is capitalism with goodwill where heritage, modernity and omnipresent securitization aim at serving innovation. NARRATIVES IN URBAN ENVIRONMENT: SIGNATURES OF BDD 10 Narratives in Urban Environment: Signatures of BDD Every city produces a unique discourse. The colors, sounds, shapes, and objects of an urban setting charge gazers with endless storytelling. Reading the city happens through taking in its architectural and urban styles, which represent the physical frames of social thoughts, values, aspirations and identity (Backovic & Masirevic, 2010). Most cities demonstrate an instant, obvious identity – the boulevards