Metropolitics

A De Facto Subsidized Market-Led Activity: The Political-Economy Rationale of Affordable Housing Provision in Beirut

Rouba Wehbe — 2026-10-06T05:00:00Z

A contradictory form of affordable housing has taken root in Beirut, based on informally repurposed deteriorated structures for short-term use and “rent intermediaries” who often displace owners. This recurring configuration intermingles profit realization with subsidized access, giving rise to a compelling case study of the diverse factors influencing housing affordability.
In Beirut, an apparently contradictory form of affordable housing has taken root in the wake of decades of Israeli

- From the Field / affordable housing, Lebanon, Middle East, Beirut, housing, housing crisis, social housing, public housing, market

Making Routes on the Sea

Natasha N. Iskander — 2023-02-24T06:00:00Z

Natasha N. Iskander reviews Sinews of War and Trade: Shipping and Capitalism in the Arabian Peninsula by Laleh Kalili, which elucidates the labor, power, and politics of international trade routes from the vantage point of the sea.
Ninety percent of the world's goods travel by ship. This is the statistic with which Laleh Khalili opens her magisterial foray into the making of the trade routes that crisscross our oceans and seas. We depend on these routes, and on the tankers and ships that

- Reviews / capitalism, Arabian Peninsula, Middle East, trade, shipping, labor, politics, power play

The intricacies of popular housing in the Middle East

Mona Fawaz — 2013-12-18T05:55:00Z

Popular housing is a common trait of Middle-Eastern cities inhabited by migrants and refugees. A recent publication examines how these inhabitants negotiate their presence and manage to build their dwellings through complex and uncertain arrangements at the limit of informality.
It has become customary to claim that the debate on informal land and housing production and exchange is exhausted: the number of publications and dissertations that have addressed this topic has dropped steadily over

- Reviews / housing, Middle East, dwellers, informality