Site Situation

A history of Beirut

Beirut had a long and eventful history which makes its city plans and growth difficult to study in detail and categorize. Yet taking a set of maps from different periods shows a growth of the city that can be characterized as unplanned especially from 1980s onward during which the city’s political problems were exacerbated by a civil war that over-densified the city and caused the over-taking of the agriculture zone.

1915 -1981 Great Lebanese Famine

1900 1910

In the early 20th century Beirut was often referred to as ‘the Paris of the East’. Banks used high interest rates to lure in foreign investments and glamorous hotel resorts at tracted tourism srom across Europe.

1920

Allied Administration 1943 Lebanese Independence Beirut Named Capital

1920 -1939 League of Nations Mandate 1948 Palestine War 1958 Lebanon Crisis

1930

French Rule

1940 1950

Republic of Lebanon

1943 - 1970 Independence

Lebanon: Hay al Selloum is located in Beirut the capital of Lebanon. Lebanon’s history is unique in that its independence from the French rule in 1943 did not introduce a process of nation building characterized by planning agencies and welfare state promises that most post colonial societies attempted on achieving. Instead, the state committed itself to ultimate liberalism with total disregard to the public sector (Gaspard 2004). The historical and blind faith in the “free market” has continually translated by the reluctance and weak interventions of the Lebanese government and the provision of services, including the provision of housing (Sadik 1996).

During that 1970s, the olive groves and agriculture land of Hay al Selloum were being transformed into an area for low-income shelter for refugees. The area is between the airport and the industrial zone of Choueifat. A 15-minute car ride takes the residents into the central district of Beirut. The area was mostly controlled by Druze and Christian families that owned the land or inherited it. As land value in the area rose the agricultural land was transformed into one of the most congested residential areas in Beirut, with a density of 1400people\ha in 1999 (Fawaz, 2005) .