Cities for a New Generation The Role of 3 MENA Cities Component 4: National framework and review of the city strategy Saida, Lebanon Saida’s CDS: a review of the ongoing process, the identification of opportunities and obstacles at the national level, plus recommendations for the future Pierre-Arnaud Barthel Final Report June 21, 2014 Pierre-Arnaud Barthel / CMI, 2014 / Cities for a new generation: Report on Saida 1 Table of contents Executive summary ........................................................................................................... 4 Acronyms and abbreviations ............................................................................................. 9 References ...................................................................................................................... 10 List of figures .................................................................................................................. 11 Introduction: context of the study and main goals of the report ...................................... 12 1. Saida has traditionally been the capital of the South and still has major assets ......... 17 1.1. A political leadership linked to a dynamic business culture and a civil society ........................... 17 1.2. A diversified local economy ............................................................................................................................... 20 1.3. Nature and landscapes: a unique and original asset ................................................................................ 22 1.4. A rich cultural heritage undergoing revitalization ................................................................................... 23 1.5. Recent improvements in urban infrastructures ........................................................................................ 25 1.6. The ability to coordinate between the Lebanese state, the City Council and other stakeholders ...................................................................................................................................................................... 26 2. Saida has traditionally been the gateway to the south: a diagnosis of the threats ........ 28 2.1. In the competition between cities Saida is losing ground to Beirut and other large southern towns. ................................................................................................................................................................................... 28 2.2. A “rentier” economic base and a real estate market which is not meeting local demand ........ 29 2.3. A shortage of reliable urban infrastructures ............................................................................................... 30 2.4. Balancing open spaces, protecting green and blue resources ............................................................. 32 2.5. Vulnerable territories and security issues, despite external involvement in social projects . 33 The Palestinian Camps: half of the population, but the “invisible” face of the city ...............................33 The Old City as cultural heritage: an underutilized asset because of poverty and security problems...................................................................................................................................................................................34 2.6. The absence of an inter-municipal territorial vision ............................................................................... 36 3. Weak ministries and centralized governance: major obstacles for Saida coming from the national level .................................................................................................................. 38 3.1. The Saida Municipality, a local authority limited by the national legal and institutional framework ......................................................................................................................................................................... 38 3.2. Saida versus DGU and CDR: a lack of collaborative work ...................................................................... 39 3.3. A critical shortage of the national policies that could offer Saida opportunities for the future ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 42 4. Evaluation in itinere of Saida’s unfinished CDS ............................................................. 45 4.1. Saida’s CDS in USUDS: a review of the governance .................................................................................. 45 4.2. Review of the diagnosis reports ....................................................................................................................... 46 4.3. Review of the vision proposed by the local expert team........................................................................ 51 5. Recommendations for the success of the Saida CDS ..................................................... 55 5.1. Recommendations for the beginning of implementation ...................................................................... 55 5.2. For the success of the CDS: setting up and sustaining a partnerships at the national level .... 56 5.3. The City of Saida should continue, beyond the CDS, to debate the future of strategic sectors of the city ............................................................................................................................................................................ 58 Finding solutions to slow down land urbanization..............................................................................................58 New strategic sectors to boost Saida’s economy ...................................................................................................60 Pierre-Arnaud Barthel / CMI, 2014 / Cities for a new generation: Report on Saida 2 Appendix 1: Review of national stakeholders .................................................................. 64 Appendix 2: Decentralization: limits of the process in Lebanon ....................................... 69 Appendix 3: Strategic planning in Lebanon - pioneer experiments ................................... 72 Appendix 4: The PNAML - a new national program aiming to empower Lebanese Municipalities ................................................................................................................. 75 Appendix 5: Presentation of the Urban Sustainable Development Strategy (USUDS) and the Saida project ................................................................................................................... 76 Appendix 6: Working party report in Beirut and Saida ..................................................... 79 Pierre-Arnaud Barthel / CMI, 2014 / Cities for a new generation: Report on Saida 3 Executive summary This report is focused on the city of Saida in Lebanon, the country’s third main city and one of the three urban areas that are part of the CMI /World Bank project . Firstly, the objective is to build a diagnosis of the opportunities, contradictions and constraints that the complex national framework represents for the creation and the implementation of a strategy at the local level; secondly, Saida’s strategy is reviewed; and finally, recommendations will be made to help resolve difficulties, to overcome deadlock and, if needed, to provide up-to-date solutions. The key elements of this report are as follows: Saida has traditionally been the capital of the South and still has major assets Saida has great potential and still has major assets. These assets are: a strong political leadership linked to both a vibrant private sector and a civil society; a diversified economy; unique natural assets; a rich cultural heritage; and finally, the ability to coordinate through a multi-level approach. Saida has a diversified economic base, the maintenance of which will be a key factor in the continued resilience of the city. This diversified economic base covers agriculture, agro-industry, crafts, light industries, construction, port activities and tourism, together with reliable health and education infrastructures. Tourism itself also has great potential, focusing mainly on the Old City (which is undergoing revitalization,) but also on traditional crafts (another potential key asset). Education and health are two other sectors that show promising prospects. Another potential area of growth is agriculture, which accounts for about one third of the surface area of Saida. Saida is a very green city and should value its ‘natural’ assets more highly. Saida has traditionally been the gateway to the South: a diagnosis of the threats Because of both external factors and internal problems Saida is facing challenges in being the capital of the south, and CDS is considered to be the first step in fostering the role of Saida and its relationship with the neighborhood. At the national level Saida doesn’t see any benefit from the proximity of Beirut, and then on the regional level it is also being challenged by the other emerging cities of the South. So, in the competition between cities Saida is losing ground both to Beirut and to other large southern towns. Saida has traditionally been the ‘gateway’ to the South and that status is being threatened by marginalization.. The shift of both business headquarters and decisional functions to the Greater Beirut Region has been accelerated since the