Sustainable urban renewal : the case of Al-Tamlis, Tariq Jdideh - Beirut -

Abstract

After having been long discredited by Jane Jacobs and other postmodern advocacy planners, Urban Renewal is garnering interest by a recent line of researchers (Teaford, 2000). The object of these scholars is not only to critically reinvestigate Urban Renewal in the context of post-WWII city rebuilding in the West, but also to rethink Urban Renewal in the context of 21st century cities struggling with the woes of globalization, slum proliferation and environmental catastrophes (Zipp, 2012). They argue that a reinvestigation of the largely perceived legacy of failure of Urban Renewal may shed light on its positive contributions to the discipline of planning. Furthermore, they extend the line of their predecessors in opting for a re-evaluation of the shortcomings of Urban Renewal by devising strategies to transform it from a program of slum clearance to one of urban vitality (Gans, 1966). In line with this body of thought, this thesis seeks to re-evaluate the legacy and prospects of Urban Renewal in the context of contemporary urban challenges of sustainable development. By crisscrossing lessons from the failures and contributions of Urban Renewal on cities in the US with much recent case-studies of renewal projects targeting sustainability, and based on theoretical, analytical, and practical planning knowledge, this study synthesizes a framework for assessment of ‘Sustainable’ Urban Renewal of residential neighborhoods. It creates a set of guidelines that may channel renewal efforts within a ‘best practice’ methodology. On the other hand, in an attempt to develop the Urban Planning Workshop on ‘Mobility and Accessibility’ in Tariq Jdideh district of Beirut (2016), this study applies this framework on a theoretical outcome of the workshop: The framework is tested on a Sustainable Urban Renewal proposal for al-Tamlis, a run-down precarious neighborhood currently undergoing market-led speculative redevelopment that threatens its intricate socio-political and historic identities. T