Assessing Public Space in Beirut’s Southern Suburbs: Between Municipal Policy and Spatial Practice

Abstract

Open public spaces are a valuable asset for cities as research has shown they improve people’s quality of life through social, economic, health, and ecological benefits. Increased financialization, densification, and urbanization in cities have put additional pressure on lands and infrastructures, making public spaces increasingly harder to provide and/or maintain. Prevalent definitions of public space, more aligned with Eurocentric publicness, often do not capture well the types and conditions of contemporary public spaces in dense urban environments of cities of the global south. Scholars have voiced the need for research that incorporates different definitions and types of public spaces, namely normative and alternative public spaces—the former being publicly owned, more scripted, formal ones, and the latter providing more opportunities for spontaneous forms of spatial practice and appropriation (Carmona 2010, Iveson 2007).

This thesis takes as its case study the southern suburbs of Beirut (al-Dahiya) to examine public spaces. On one hand, I document the increased investment in the making of normative public spaces by the municipalities, which I argue is aesthetics-based, conceived through top-down policies, and not contributing much to public life. On the other hand, I investigate the multiplication of alternative public spaces produced and practiced by al-Dahiya’s urban dwellers which I qualify as spontaneous, diverse, and relatively inclusive, thus providing several opportunities for experiencing public life in ways that can inspire municipal public policy. I show that there exists a disconnect between municipal policy towards public space and between people’s experiences of public space that needs to be remedied. I end my thesis by recommending the introduction of urban/spatial planning as a tool for local governments in the southern suburbs of Beirut through the establishment of a City Planning Unit that can reconceive urban policy of public spaces in a way that prioritizes people’s needs.