The Council of Exceptions: A report on the decisions of the “Higher Council for Urban Planning” (2019-2021)

The General Directorate for Urban Planning and its higher Council are Lebanon’s official and primary bodies for urban planning. They support urban development and favor the interests of real estate developers and the dominant class. However, since the council’s decisions are made behind closed doors and unknown to the public, opposing them becomes nearly impossible. As a result, these decisions are imposed as realities.

This report analyzes the decisions of the Higher Council for Urban Planning from 2019 to 2021, revealing its role within the broader context of policy-making in Lebanon.

Read the full report in Arabic here.

Land Management and Planning Lebanon
 
 
 

Urbanism and Law: Master-planning in Lebanon and its Impact on People and Places

Over the past decade, many urban geographers engaged with the relation between law and geography, in an attempt to clarify the connections between these two increasingly complex concepts. In Lebanon, law has often …

Public Works Studios launched the Land Policy Observatory:

Four Years of Accumulated Inequality

Public Works Studio invites you to the launch of the “Land Policy Observatory,” an online platform producing and making available knowledge about land issues in Lebanon. The observatory aims to promote just development …

The Future and Resistance blocs facilitate construction in rural regions without addressing housing needs

Proposing the law of exemption of some building permits from fees according to prototypical designs.

It was referred to the Administration and Justice, Finance and Budget, and Public Works Committees on 10/6/2020.

Beyond Cement

Towards an Alternative Vision for Chekka and Surrounding Towns

Download the book in Arabic Research and production: Monica Basbous, Nadine Bekdache, Tala Alaeddine, Abir SaksoukDesign: Imad KaafaraniEditing: Hashem HashemReport localisation: Sassine Kouzli Due to the presence of cement factories and quarries on …

The Lebanese Forces Revive a Highway Project Which Threatens Residents and Destroys Forests

Proposing a law that aims at executing expropriations related to the highway (Khalde - Dbayeh - Al-Okaibeh) and its connections.

It was referred to the Finance and Budget and Public Works Committees, but has not been studied to date.

The “Murr Floor” Project Returns: The Government Provides no Solution to the Housing Crisis and Increases Speculation on Land Prices

A proposal to amend Article 66 of Law No. 144 (Budget Law).

It has been included in the agenda of the Parliament on 07/12/2021.

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, …

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 …

In KfarAbida: Raghida Dergham takes over public property through the policies of the higher Council of Urban Planning

Last Sunday, June 9, 2024, residents and activists in the town of KfarAbida gathered in front of the villa of journalist Raghida Dergham, to denounce the building violations she is committing, and to …