The Rise and Fall of Mount Lebanon Villas: The Case Study of Dhour Abadiyeh

Abstract

The thesis explores the historical development and long-term impacts of residential tourism on Dhour Abadiyeh, a village in Mount Lebanon. Since the 1950s, large swathes of the village’s agricultural land have been turned into high-end residential villas, many of which are now abandoned. The research traces the drivers and long-term effects of residential tourism and summer vacationing on the town, focusing on the development of villas and the role of urban planning policies in influencing the production.

The thesis identified four main historical periods in the history of the town, two of which correspond to important periods of booms for villa development. The first boom coincides with the pre-civil war period (1943-1975) and coincides with the influx of elites from Lebanon and the Arab Gulf transforming the village into an important regional hub in the summer, with reach to the entire region. This transformation shifted the economic basis of the village towards reliance on tourism. It also introduced new social dynamics, creating new relations between its long-term residents and the visitors. The second building boom coincides to the post-war period, the reconstruction phase from 1990 till 2000s. The last phase explored in the study extends to the current moment when many villas are either underused or fully abandoned and dilapidated, and the impacts of this condition on the town’s life and economy.

The research focused on the planning policies, lot subdivisions, zoning and road development strategies that supported and facilitated the transformation and development of villas. It shows that in the absence of long-term strategic planning, poor community involvement, and a developer-driven residential tourism sector, Dhour developed in a pattern of social and spatial exclusion that caused long-term environmental degradation, shift in land perception, generated social conflicts, and produced, uneven distribution of resources.

The study relied on the longitudinal spatial analysis approach to trace the historical developments of villas in Dhour Abadiyeh over eight decades. It employed the Geographic Information System (GIS) framework for collecting and analyzing the historical and digitized building permits issued between 1945 and 2022, georeferencing aerial photographs, interviewing stakeholders and investigating public policies. This method provides an in-depth comprehensive strategy to study the influence of planning policies, and socio-political and economic forces impacting spatial production and urban transformations in rural areas.

The thesis contributes valuable insights into the possible long-term negative consequences of residential tourism and summer vacationing, particularly in southern contexts with weak or market-driven regulatory contexts. The research findings highlight the necessity of strategic planning and policy interventions addressing the long-term impacts of residential tourism, ensuring their positive contribution to the local context of rural villages.