Encroachment on Public Property in Al-Qleileh: Legitimizing Legal and Environmental Violations

Shortly before leaving office, the Mikati government approved Decree No. 14620, dated January 16, 2025, which grants a private company concession rights to 14,560 square meters of public maritime domain adjacent to property …

Evacuation and demolition of shops in Burj al-Barajneh: a struggle between Planning and Social Marginalization

In January 2025, the Burj al-Barajneh municipality, backed by the Lebanese army and security forces, evicted and demolished informal shops, sparking resident protests. While the municipality claimed it was reclaiming public land, its move suggests an attempt to control the area’s informal economy.

 “100 dollars for rent or else…” The Khan Al-Askar project is outside the municipality’s accounts in terms of services, but it is present in the rent collection ledger

تهدد بلدية طرابلس بطرد سكان مشروع «إسكان قاطني وشاغلي خان العسكر»، في حالة عدم تمكنهم من دفع إيجار بقيمة 100 دولاراً، ممّا يعرّض للخطر حقّ السكن ل230 شخصاً يعيشون في مشروع الإسكان الشعبي.

Investigating the Religious Land Endowments in Lebanon

Amid Lebanon’s economic collapse, along with other successive crises, “ownership” is raised as a fundamental issue in shaping the system of social and economic relations, framed by the state through laws, making it …

Who moved the kitchen to the bedroom?

Today, the use of kitchenettes in low income housing and student accommodation in Beirut, raises a question as to whether this is a victory for housing rights, or a way to jeopardize the tenant’s comfort and raise the profits of landlords.

The need for policies to protect heritage buildings: Buildings threatened with collapse in Basta

Following the evacuation of the inhabitants, two listed buildings are threatened with demolition, apparently as a result of deliberate negligence by the owners, as well as Israeli raids during the last war. This issue is not merely the destruction of unsafe buildings, but a clear example of the complexities of the issue of neglected heritage buildings and the institutional failures in its management. It also opens the door to fundamental questions about how to reconcile the preservation of public safety with the preservation of historical legacy, and how to protect the most vulnerable groups who inhabit these buildings, in the face of owners’ expectations for material gain.

The website of the Directorate General of Urban Planning: An Incomplete Step Toward Transparency

On January 31, the website of the Directorate General of Urban Planning was launched, with the aim of enhancing transparency and facilitating access to information. While this is seen as a long-awaited move toward transparency and accountability, it is considered incomplete and does not absolve the Directorate of its core responsibilities.

A Call to Protect Cultural Properties following the Israeli Aggressions on Lebanon

Following the Israeli aggression against Lebanon, which killed thousands of civilians and targeted a large number of villages and towns in the southern and Bekaa regions, in addition to the southern suburbs of …

A Ministry of Development, Planning and Housing: What We Need at This Stage

In the context of the ongoing debate around the need for a Ministry of Planning, this article provides an overview of the Ministry’s history, stressing the importance of establishing such a ministry, to produce a comprehensive vision of the political economic plan for the State and regions, especially at the level of land regulation.

 In Bir Hassan, Eviction After Displacement, Under the Pressure of Real Estate Development, and the Pretext of Protecting the Safety of Residents

After a long history of threatening families displaced by the Lebanese Civil War with eviction from a residential building in Bir Hassan under the pretext of being “illegal occupants,” and following failed negotiations, …

Under the Bombs: who supervises the work of NGOs working with the refugees?

Amid airstrikes in southern Lebanon, Walid and his family fled Nabatieh and entered a cycle of displacement. His story sheds light on systemic failures in addressing refugee needs by both the government and refugee aid organizations in time of war.

How Sound Builds New Walls: Warscapes and the Safe City Map

The damage of the war was not limited to the residents of the targeted areas; its brutality extended to most of the Lebanese territories. The echoes of these attacks reached areas far from the bombing, as a result of the violation of the Lebanese skies by hostile Israeli warplanes and drones. This text is an attempt to explore sound as a war tool, used by the Israeli killing machine to support its war against us.