Metropolitics

Blueprints of Hope: How Architects Shape a Brighter Future

Nasser Golzari & Yara Sharif — 2024-10-15T05:00:00Z

In a conversation centered around the ongoing injustices in Palestine, particularly in Gaza, and the need for reconstruction and resistance to create conditions for change, Yara Sharif and Nasser Golzari emphasize the importance of local involvement and long-term sustainability in approaches to reconstruction in post-conflict zones, and highlight the role of alternative frameworks in empowering local communities to reshape their own conditions and create sustainable solutions in the face of

- Interviews / Palestine, reconstruction, regeneration, resilience, alternative, genocide, urbicide, ecocide, Gaza, West Bank

Beirut: the new front lines of urban research

Éric Verdeil & translated by Oliver Waine — 2013-05-06T05:05:00Z

In Beirut, the extremely rapid transformations of both urban spaces and urban policy raise a number of questions and give researchers much food for thought. Two recent collective works reflect the vitality of urban research in Beirut today and the revival of critical urban theory.
Since the Civil War years, urban issues have become much debated in Beirut. Researchers explored the social and sectarian roots of the fragmentation of urban areas in Lebanon (Seurat 1989; Nasr 1985) and became

- Reviews / public space, reconstruction, Lebanon, Beirut, civil war

The reconstruction of Beirut: sowing the seeds for future conflicts?

Bruno Marot & Serge Yazigi & translated by Oliver Waine — 2012-11-14T10:59:43Z

Periods of post-war reconstruction are often the backdrop for new socio-economic and political dynamics. In Beirut, the rise of market-led urbanism, a lack of proper urban planning and the far-reaching sectarian polarisation are all factors that could raise questions about the model of urban regeneration implemented and arouse new socio-political tensions.
“Beirut in times of peace has been more disfigured and destroyed than in times of war.” While the city centre, devastated by the combats

- From the Field / gentrification, developers, governance, urban renewal, residential mobility, reconstruction, Lebanon, Beirut, conflict, urban regeneration, demolition

Post-2006 reconstruction in Lebanon: a laboratory for new urban planning practices

Éric Verdeil & translated by Eric Rosencrantz — 2011-10-05T05:00:00Z

Modes of urban planning often develop at an accelerated pace during periods of reconstruction. Lebanon in the aftermath of the 2006 war is a case in point. This book is a collection of urban planners' and academics' assessments of their own efforts on the ground in Lebanon, where the government's abdication has allowed Hezbollah to become heavily entrenched locally.
The past few years have provided a great many examples of urban reconstruction after natural disasters and man-made conflicts.

- Reviews / democracy, reconstruction, Lebanon, Beirut

The Build/No-Build Line

Richard Campanella — 2011-06-01T05:20:00Z

The Katrina flooding of 2005 ignited a debate between abandonists and maintainers. Should the city move to higher grounds or should it be rebuilt as before? Should concessions be made? If so, where should we draw the line? Richard Campanella explains the arguments behind these positions and why laisser-faire was the ultimate policy, until the next catastrophe.
---- Series: New Orleans: The Post-Katrina Years This text is the second of two excerpts from Richard Campanella, Bienville's Dilemma:

- From the Field / catastrophe, New Orleans, Katrina, disaster, reconstruction, risk, environment, hurricane