Part of the Al-Meselmani building, in Al-’Hayy al-Gharbi extending between Chatila Camp and the Sports Stadium, collapsed on Saturday morning. As a result, ten families who had lived in the building for about 7 to 10 years, lost their homes. Al-’Hayy Gharbi first grew in the 1960s, and it was a direct extension of Chatila camp, with shacks and temporary structures built informally. It extended considerably as of 1975 onwards, housing a substantial number of vulnerable residents. Because the construction process took place gradually and informally, the neighborhood buildings today suffer from a number of structural problems, in addition to the authorities preventing renovation operations, under the pretext that these neighborhoods are “illegal and encroaching” on public land. At a time when the deterioration of the built environment in informal neighborhoods constitutes a threat to residents, it is necessary for the state to change its approach towards these informal areas, starting with the recognition of their existence, studying their conditions, then rehabilitating them. 

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