Land Management and Planning

Law Commentary

Postponing Municipal Elections has Become a Norm

“Truly, fair elections can only happen in normal times, and they are at the heart of democracy, ensuring power is not concentrated in one group for too long.” With these words, Deputy Jihad …

Research-Based Article

Informal neighborhoods: This is where the just city begins

Part 1: Discussions and Origins

Informal settlements in Lebanon, a complex and long-standing phenomenon, are the result of multiple factors. These include influxes of refugees, rural-to-urban migration, the scars of civil war and ongoing conflicts, and the adoption …

Research-Based Article

The Construction Sector in Lebanon: How Neoliberal Urbanization Destroys the Environment

Lebanon faces a multitude of environmental threats, primarily driven by a neoliberal approach to urbanization. This approach prioritizes short-term private economic gains in the construction industry and associated businesses, including a dominant cement …

Policy Watch

The state can play its role

El Nabatieh Governorate leads the way in proposing fair rent

As of February 20, 2024, nearly 90,000 people have been displaced from their homes in Lebanon due to Israeli attacks. The International Organization for Migration estimates that around 15% of them have resorted …

Dossier

How Urbanization is an issue of climate Justice

The fight against climate change often centers on shifting to renewable energy sources and reducing carbon pollution—two needed actions which cannot be worthwhile unless we reconsider the whole way in which we are …

Research-Based Article

How can land and property taxes in Lebanon be fair?

The tax system plays a critical role in the social contract between the state and society, with individuals contributing taxes in exchange for the state’s commitment to societal well-being. However, recent global tax …

Article

Sahra Chouaifat Building Collapse:

The threat of buildings constructed between 1990 and 2005

Yesterday, a 5-storey building collapsed in Sahra Choueifat. As a result, about 13 families and a number of shops were displaced, all of which survived by chance. The collapse was also followed by …

Investigation

The Black Cloud over Kfour town:

How Urban Planning Produces an Environmental Disaster.

Twelve years ago, the suffering of the people of Kfour town began. In the town, located within Nabatieh District, factories and plants of all kinds are spread, from quarries, stone mills, asphalt plants, …

Investigation

About Ein el-Hilweh Camp

Yesterday in Ein el-Hilweh camp, and today in Gaza, Palestinians lose their land and neighborhoods for different reasons, with occupation and displacement serving as the common thread that binds their struggles. This article …

Field Watch

MP Tony Frangieh and Saydat al-Najat Monastery are Partners in an Environmental Massacre

Uprooting 3500 Olive Trees in Bsarma to Establish an Industrial City

Lands owned by the Saydat al-Najat Maronite monastery in Bsarma (North Lebanon) are hosting an environmental massacre. News of the uprooting of 3500 olive trees on an area of 160,000 square meters has …

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 …

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.