Research-Based Article

The Mar Mikhael square project: who speaks for the neighborhood?

Following the ongoing debate over the Mar Mikhael Square Project, an American University of Beirut- Urban Lab initiative, we propose to open a debate around the issue, having neighborhood committees as an entry …

مقال

وزير الطبقية: وزير الداخلية يدعو إلى إزالة أكشاك المفقّرين

البلدية "تنظّف" المدينة من فقرائها

دعا وزير الداخلية بسام مولوي “لإزالة كافة التعديات على الأملاك العامة الممتدة على الطريق الدولي من مدخل صور من جهة جل البحر – العباسية”. خدعنا هذا الخبر حين ظننّا بأنّه يدعو لإزالة التعديات …

Policy Watch

Saving AnNaqoura: The last witness of how the Lebanese coast once was

Located in the region liberated from the Israeli occupation, private property lot number 92, had witnessed the illegal bulldozing and destruction of the neighboring marine ecosystem.  The pressure to stop works on Property …

Policy Watch

Aley Stairs: What is Not Allowed Even For the Municipality

After activists have started mobilizing against the demolition of the “Public Heritage Stairs” of Aley, we write this commentary to show how a section of these stairs fall on private property. The stairs’ …

Project

Mobilisations during the October 17 Uprising to reclaim seafront public properties

Over the past decades, environmental issues and access to natural resources stood out as major components of the broader landscape of social mobilisation in Lebanon. Despite oppressive practices and the hegemony’s attempts to …

Investigation

Understanding the Right to the City and How Authorities Violate It

This article aims to analyze laws enacted by the Lebanese authorities between 2019 and 2022 in relation to the right to the city, which encompasses the right to housing, work, and other essential …

Narrative

The Residents of “Hind” Building Face Mass Eviction

This Story recounts the struggles of “Hind” building’s residents as they face countless harassments, pressures and threats aimed at forcing them out of the homes they have inhabited for years. “Hind” building is …

Article

The Governor of Beirut Force Evicts and Displaces Residents During His Show Off Inspection Tour

On May 19, 2023, during an inspection tour of several neighbourhoods in the city of Beirut, the governor, Judge Marwan Abboud, issued a sudden and immediate decision, without prior warning, to forcibly evict a residential building located in the Barbir neighbourhood.

Research-Based Article

Amiri “Çiftlik” Lands in Tyre:

Social Value Under Threat

The aim of this article is to address recurring questions that arise whenever the topic of Amiri lands is discussed: What is the right known as the “usufruct right”? How is it obtained? How is it transferred? And how can we ensure justice in accessing these lands within the context of Lebanese clientelism/patronage?

Law Commentary

From Dalieh in 1995 Until Today: A New Extension of the Hotel Exemption Law

Proposing a law aiming at “Extending the application of Law No. 264 (extending the work of the law related to exempting hotels from some provisions of the Building Law).”

The law proposal was submitted on 20/3/2023, and has not yet been referred to parliamentary committees.

Statement

The Eviction of Syrian Refugees: 

A Violation of the Right to the City, Housing, Movement and to choosing the Place of Residence

The sight of children swimming in the pool in downtown Beirut has not been unusual in recent weeks, as an organized media campaign to promote racism and hatred against Syrian refugees had considered …

Alerts Periodic Report

Understanding Housing Transformations Amid Recent Events

This periodic report documents cases received by the “Housing Monitor” from January 2022 to May 2023. It emphasizes the correlation between recent escalating events and the number of monitored cases, totaling 563 reports, …