Reviving Public Places: A Landscape Urbanism Approach to Urban Recovery of Post-Blast Beirut

Abstract

Following the Beirut August 4 blast, a strong sense of community solidarity was observed, as large groups of volunteers and organizations gathered along Mar Mikhael’s streets, sidewalks, and vacant lots to coordinate post-blast relief efforts. These gatherings were rather ad-hoc space appropriations and temporary, particularly given that volunteer efforts decrease and private landowners reinstate control overtime. Nevertheless, it is necessary to sustain socio-spatial practices that occurred before and after the blast, as activating open public spaces and vacant lots for socio-spatial practices matters for recovery, despite the scarcity and inaccessibility of most public open spaces in Mar Mikhael. This thesis explores how landscape urbanism as an approach could provide tools and strategies to sustain community-centered practices that emerged after the blast in Mar Mikhael’s public domain. This thesis ultimately aims to present an urban recovery strategy for Mar Mikhael through a landscape urbanism approach, building on the sense of community that was observed after the blast. With this thesis’ proposed design intervention, landscape urbanism would be reinterpreted, as a possible urban recovery approach, rather than a tool for mere beautification, as criticized by previous literature.