Activating Public Life in Neighborhoods through Soft Mobility and a Network of Open Spaces: The case of Badaro, Beirut

Abstract

Badaro has been experiencing significant urban transformation over the decades affecting its socio-spatial practices in the neighborhood. It has attracted developers to the neighborhood commodifying land as an asset at the expense of its social value. These dynamics have been translated into the densification of the neighborhood, and many open spaces were lost. And with the ongoing recession, many privately owned built and unbuilt properties in the neighborhood have been left either fully or partially vacant, waiting to be developed for real-estate speculation. Badaro’s public life is constrained by the lack of a network of open spaces as well as traffic and congestion which prevent soft mobility.

This thesis seeks to explore ways to enhance walkability and connectivity. It looks into a new traffic management and transportation plan that prioritizes walkability and further connectivity between Badaro and its surrounding neighborhoods. In addition to conceiving this connectivity in relation to a network of open spaces that further outdoor public life.