Public Property

Policy Watch

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 …

Policy Watch

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.

Dossier

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 …

Law Commentary

 The Reconstruction Draft Law repeats the Mistakes of the past:

Reviving destroyed villages can’t happen only through buildings

After a ceasefire was implemented in Lebanon on November 27, the Lebanese government held a special session on December 7 in the southern city of Tyre and approved a draft law for rebuilding homes destroyed by Israeli attacks, as they were before. Regardless of its immediate issues in terms of content, it appears that the proposed law does not address the previous or emerging challenges we are facing and risks repeating the mistakes of past failed reconstruction experiences.

Dossier

The Right to the city and to housing during wars

It is not possible to imagine a war that would displace one fifth of the population, destroying the suburb of Beirut as well as the country’s southern and eastern region, bombing Lebanon’s entire …

Policy Watch

Three Million Euros to Rehabilitate the Mar Mikhael Station:

An Opportunity to Utilize Vacant State Properties for Wartime Needs.

مع استمرار العدوان الإسرائيلي، يزداد النزوح في لبنان بشكل سريع، ممّا يؤدي إلى كثافة عالية في مراكز الإيواء الرسمية. العديد من النازحين مضطرون للبقاء في العراء أو في سياراتهم، بينما تبقى أملاك الدولة شاغرة. تشير بيانات وزارة المالية إلى وجود 1285 عقاراً ملك الدولة في بيروت، مما يوفر فرصة لإيواء النازحين إذا تم إدراجها في خطة الطوارئ. من بين هذه الأملاك، تعتبر محطة قطار مار مخايل موقعاً مناسباً، خصوصاً بعد تلقّي الحكومة مؤخراً هبة إيطالية بقيمة 3.15 مليون يورو لإعادة تأهيلها.

Petition

Call regarding the Use of Public Spaces by Displaced Persons

The statement addresses the issue of displaced persons occupying public spaces due to the ongoing war and a rapid increase in displacement. In the initial phases, many displaced individuals sought refuge in open …

Field Watch

 Horsh Beirut Closed Again

On July 24, 2024, the Beirut Governor approved the closure of Horsh Beirut only allowing the entry of visitors who obtain prior permission. This illegal closure is nothing but a confirmation of the state’s failure to open, manage, and guard municipal parks and enhance their role as public spaces open to all residents of the city.

Dossier

Master-Planning in Lebanon: Manufacturing Landscapes of Inequality

How is urban planning practiced in Lebanon? What is the motive behind issuing master plans? And in what way do these plans violate fundamental rights? We tried during the years 2017 and 2018 …

From Dossier Research-Based Article

Where is the sea in Dbayeh? I can’t see it.

In this article, published for the first time as part of Public Works Studio’s “Planning in Lebanon: Manufacturing Landscapes of Inequality” project (2017-2018), we delve into the history of land reclamation and privatization …

From Dossier Research-Based Article

Land belongs to those who cultivate it:

The rights holders of in Shabriha

How does urban planning deal with informal areas? This question is a pressing issue for the future of Tyre and Abbassiyeh areas, where camps and informal gatherings constitute an essential component of the …

Field Watch

The secondhand market in Tripoli: 

The municipality 'cleans' the city of its poor

Starting Saturday June 29, and over several consecutive days, the secondhand market in Tripoli witnessed a full removal process, as part of the campaign to remove public property violations in Tripoli. This removal …