Lebanon’s Urban Development and Planning

After four hundred years of Ottoman rule followed by a little over two decades as part of the French Mandate, Lebanon finally gained independence in 1943. In her translation and editing of the four books by Mohammad Fawaz, Director of Lebanon’s Directorate General of Urbanism from 1974 to 1993, Christine Mady provides a unique insight into the development and urban planning of Lebanon and its capital city Beirut from 1943 to the present day. Following a summary of the key events in Lebanon’s history and of Mohammad Fawaz’s career, her introduction describes how Fawaz’s books, published in 2002, 2005, 2010 and 2019 respectively, provide detailed analysis and assessment of the country’s planning system, its procedures, and management - from master plans to transport planning and building controls. She divides her translation and editing of his works into three parts: The Lebanese Urban Planning System, Laws, and Actors; The Role of Urban Planning regarding Lebanon’s National Resources and Capabilities; and Urban Planning, Transport, Housing, Real Estate, and Post-War Reconstruction. The book ends with a reflection on what has gone before, quoting the seven challenges which Mohammad Fawaz gives as contributing to the status quo of urban planning in Lebanon, and a survey of the situation today.

Mohamed Fawaz was head of Lebanon’s Directorate General of Urbanism (DGU) from 1974 to 1993 and President of the Conseil Exécutif des Grands Projets (CEGP) from 1993 to 1999. From 1999 to 2019, he worked in partnership with his brother in the private consultancy Bureau Technique d’Urbanisme et des Travaux Publics SARL (BTUTP).

Christine Mady is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Architecture, School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Aalto University, Finland; before that she was an Associate Professor in the Department of Architecture, Faculty of Architecture, Arts, and Design, Notre Dame University-Louaize, Lebanon where she was head of department from 2016 to 2020.