Lebanon

Policy Watch

No to Imposing Fees or Restrictions on Access to Horsh Beirut

In 2019, the Lebanese parliament passed a law submitted by deputy Fouad Makhzoumi establishing “The Protection of Horsh Beirut”. What is this law and what are its reprecussions? This law brings us back …

Field Watch

Ramlet Al-Bayda’s Kojak-Jaber Building Faces Demolition

The Kojak-Jaber building, a symbol of modern architecture in Ramlet El Bayda, and home to one of the region’s most prominent philosophers and thinkers, is facing the threat of demolition. Designed by Victor …

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 …

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 …

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, …

Legal Periodic Report

Old Tenants threatened amid Poor Law Enforcement and the Chaos of Exchange Rates

Read in Arabic here.