Actors, governance and modalities of sanitation services : informal tented settlements in Zahleh (Lebanon).

Abstract

After the influx of Syrian refugees into Lebanon in 2011, informal tented settlements (ITSs) have been the center of debates in urban studies. Much of the literature focuses on labor and security conditions (Mourad, 2017), while neglecting the challenge of the provision of adequate public services. Taking the case study of the informal tented settlements in Zahleh, one of the main hosts of Syrian refugees in the Bekaa (UNDP, 2016), this thesis aims to extend the debate regarding basic service provision in ITSs, looking at the formal and informal modes of service provision for the acquisition of sanitation in Zahleh. The main research question is: What are formal and informal mechanisms of access to sanitation services in the informal tented settlements of Zahleh? Who are the actors, what is the governance process, and what are the modalities and performance of this service? A thorough analysis of ten ITSs in Zahleh unraveled that the service provision in Zahleh ITSs is the outcome of a hybrid system operated both commercially and by self-help through both formal (municipal) and informal actors. Although this system responds to the dire needs of refugees in lieu of the ongoing ad-hoc, turn-a-blind-eye strategy adopted by the government, however, it suffers from many shortcomings, the most prominent of which is dangerous environmental pollution that results from sewage seeping in the underground water table and the disposal of untreated sludge in the rivers. In order to respond to this reality, the thesis argues for the importance of acknowledging the potentials of informality, and investigating ways to learn from existing hybrid systems and integrating them in policy making. It proposes the following planning recommendations: (1) recognize the importance of the informal system; (2) distinguish between ITSs; (3) devise a strong interventionist strategy for ITSs located within proximity of sewer networks; (4) relocate scattered ITSs in agricultural fields, and (5) relocate the refugee presence within the larg