pw-team-tala

Tala Alaeddine

Research Unit Coordinator and Researcher

Tala graduated with a Master’s degree in Architecture from the Lebanese University, Faculty of Architecture and Fine Arts Branch II (2017), and received Academic excellence certificates and Scholarships from The Hariri Foundation for Sustainable Human Development and the Lebanese American University. Her work focuses on land and housing issues in Lebanon, and includes studying and analyzing Lebanese regional masterplans, monitoring planning institutions practices, and advocating for participatory approaches in planning and reconstruction.

Law Commentary

Behind the Scenes of Legitimizing Illegal Quarries: How the Government and Cement Companies Manipulated Urban Planning Frameworks in Koura

This commentary takes a spatial approach to dissecting the Lebanese Government’s controversial Decisions No. 16 and No. 59 (passed in April 2026), exposing them as a continuation of a decades-long trajectory of collusion ...

Research-Based Article

2024–2026: Israeli Bombardment of Tyre: Where and What?

Extracted from a wider research conducted by Public Works Studio, this article analyzes the Israeli aggression against Tyre City between October 2023 and April 2026, framing it as a systematic "urbicide" executed through ...

Investigation

Housing Challenges in the Post-War Period: What Is Happening?

The recent war exposed Lebanon’s fragile housing sector, creating urgent challenges like soaring rents, lack of temporary housing, and forced displacement of vulnerable groups. Without clear policies and inclusive strategies, reconstruction risks deepening ...

Investigation

At the Expense of Tyre and Its Environment: The Army’s Investment Project Raises Questions around Exemption, Influence, and Justice

فيما تعمل مدينة صور جاهدةً على التعافي من الحرب وإعادة الإعمار، يقوم متعهد نافذ بتنفيذ مشروع استثماري لصالح وزارة الدفاع – وهو عبارة عن نادٍ للضباط ومجمّع تجاري – على أراضٍ مملوكة للدولة ...

From Dossier Investigation

Rent in times of Displacement: Draining people’s savings

Based on the current state of the rental market and an analysis of a sample of rental units, we question the possibility of completely abolishing rent at this stage, so that the displaced, ...

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

The Apprehensions of the Past in Building the Future:

Do the Master Plans for Damour Encourage Return?

Last year, a broad debate surrounded director Ziad Doueiri’s film The Insult, especially after it was nominated for the 2018 Oscar for best foreign language film. This was the first time that a …

From Dossier Research-Based Article

Planning Zouk Mikael:

Ignoring the Power Plant of Death

Anyone passing between al-Kalb River (Nahr al-Kalb) and Jounieh cannot miss the sight of two columns, striped orange and white, rising into the sky from the Zouk Mikael seafront. Though they are a …

From Dossier Report

The Primary Causes Behind the Increasing number of Collapsed Buildings in Lebanon

In 2023, seismic activity raised concerns about building collapses in Lebanon, initially overlooked until a series of incidents occurred across different regions. These events are part of a broader context where Lebanon faces …

Dossier

Buildings Collapse in Lebanon

It is difficult to be surprised today by the collapse of buildings around the Lebanese territory, being aware of the amount of legal and material factors that have weakened and destabilized their structure, …

From Dossier Report

Five Factors that Contributed to the Deterioration of the Urban Environment in Lebanon

This text highlights Lebanon’s urgent issue of severe physical degradation in its urban environment, with over 18,000 buildings at risk of collapse, particularly in Beirut and Tripoli. It attributes urban decay to a …

From Dossier Research-Based Article

Informal neighborhoods: This is where the just city begins

Part 2: Local and International approaches

In the first part of this article, we presented an overview of the emergence and growth of informal settlements in Lebanon and countries of the Global South, and we addressed the ongoing debates …