Can the process of master planning become a tool to rally for sustainable development? : Tebnin (South Lebanon) as case study

Abstract

In many cases, a master plan is a tool that is used to stimulate sustainable development through regulating land uses and building ratios. However, today Tebnin is faced with a particular challenge: the adopted master plan stands against the vision of a sustainable development process that could improve the town's long term social, economic and environmental conditions. The absence of public participation in the planning process has led many cases such as the village of Tebnin to agricultural and environmental deterioration. The emphasis on the real estate market value will eventually have a negative impact on the agricultural and environmental concerns. Therefore to protect the agricultural and environmental sectors of Tebnin, the objective of this thesis is to assess the possibility of generating and sustaining an alternative discourse vis-à-vis agricultural land and to identify those stakeholders through community participation who are willing to sustain and support this discourse. Incentives will be necessary for the viability of this discourse to counter the national real-estate vision. Interviews and surveys were conducted with forty agricultural landowners and farmers located in Tebnin. These findings indicate the importance of community participation in regards of increasing awareness of the current situation in Tebnin and in finding solutions to strengthen the physical framework in which a long-term agricultural sustainable vision of the village can be supported.