pw-team-christina

Christina Abou Rouphaël

Researcher

Christina is an architect and urban researcher who graduated with a Master’s degree in Architecture (2015) and Urban Planning (2017) from the Faculty of Architecture and Fine Arts of the Lebanese University. She is currently working on various research projects related to urban issues, public property and the right to the city.

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 …

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 …

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, …

Dossier

The 2023 Israeli War:

Fates of Residents and Confrontation Paths in Lebanon

The region is currently experiencing an extended war, from the West Bank, where people are killed, imprisoned, and their homes occupied, to Gaza, facing various forms of destruction—humanitarian, environmental, urban, psychological, etc.  Lebanon, …

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 …

Research-Based Article

Guide to Community Work at the Local Level

This research examines the role of local community organizing in relation to the theory of change and spatial justice within the context of Lebanon. It explores both the theoretical and practical aspects of …

Research-Based Article

Housing-Designated Lands:

The State Had Housing Projects

In this article, we focus on the state-owned lands designated for housing. Understanding the nature of these properties, their location, and their current uses is essential when discussing any solutions to the ongoing …

Research-Based Article

Tripoli: The Nakba of Unfinished Housing Projects

In this article, we focus on the state-owned lands that have been historically designated for housing in the cities of Tripoli and Mina (North Lebanon). First, we examine the multiple types of state …

Research-Based Article

The Reclassification of Public State Property, a Tool to Fulfill the Desires of the Powerful

ينتشر اليوم خطاب واسع ويطغى، مسوّقاً لخصخَصة الأملاك العامة كوسيلةٍ لإنقاذ الدولة من الإفلاس. هذه الأملاك هي جزء أساسي من محفظة أصول لبنان العامة...

Project

Mapping State-Owned Land Against Privatization

In light of the ongoing financial and economic collapse, mainstream public discourse called for the privatization of public assets, to save the state from bankruptcy, through a fund enabling banks to seize state-owned …

Dossier

Mapping State-Owned Land Against Privatization

In Lebanon, the state owns a substantial part of the territory, estimated to range between 20 and 25 per cent of the country’s total surface area. These publicly owned properties – the unbuilt ...

Dossier

Tripoli: Who Took Away Our Land?

In this series of articles, we investigate how the authorities handled the cases of both the riverine and maritime Tripoli (i.e., the Mina), and the implications of their policies on people’s housing rights, …