abstract proposal for 2020 igu urban commission meeting

Abstract proposal for 2020 IGU Urban Commission Meeting Beirut - 23rd -27th August 2020

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Abstract proposal for 2020 IGU Urban Commission Meeting

Beirut – 23rd- 27th August 2020

2020 IGU Urban Commission Annual Meeting Urban Challenges in a complex World

Cities facing migration pressure AUTHORS: Roua Rawass Paper Title: “Urban Retrofitting” as an approach to brace functional and social rupture in coastal line. Session number1: Role of Universities in Promoting Urban Health and Well-Being: Research, Awareness and Outreach Topic 1- Urban Lab as a catalyst to promote healthy cities. Extended abstract (2-3 pages) • Theoretical background The last three decades have witnessed major changes along abandoned or underused waterfronts. The trend is accelerating in cities around the world. It applies to lakes, rivers, canals, as well as coasts. Problems remain on the waterfront, including uneven development, crumbling infrastructure, and many neighborhoods that are almost cut-off the waterfronts. (Urban Waterfront Manifesto,2016) In the local context, the population growth, the fast mutation of coastal cities, the emergence of political and economic conflicts under the absence of a clear future urban vision, had led the coastal zone to be considered today the most endangered and neglected area of Lebanon. However, in a corridor of 500 meters wide along the coastal line, 40% of the surface is absorbed by formal and informal urbanization and 41% by agricultural uses, while 19% remain natural areas. (National Physical Master Plan of the Lebanese Territory Final Report.2005). Consequently, many disciplines and platforms appeared as reactions to deal with local and regional urban transformation, notably the Urban labs incorporating a variety of experimental approaches by engaging users and other stakeholders actively in the creative and evaluative processes of innovation and development of new urban approaches, interventions and researches. (Folstad et al. 2009) This study uses the “urban retrofitting” being an emerging concept that has gained increasing prominence within research, policy agendas and urban platforms in recent years. This concept is used to “re-engineer” and “re-design” the existing infrastructure in a city and is applied in this research as an urban approach to deal with functional, social and physical ruptures in urban context to achieve a more sustainable environment. (Cole, 2012; Dawson, 2007; Kelly 2009; Sustainable development commission, 2010). What is required therefore

1- Urban Health & well-being


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Figure 1 Comparative diagram illustrating the functional relationship between the site infrastructure and the neighborhoods before and after the establishment of the southern highway.

at city level is a much more coordinated, planned and strategic approach so that cities can be re-engineered (or ‘retrofitted’) for a more sustainable future. (Dixon and Eames 2013) The application will focus on the coastal line of the city of Khaldé-Choueifat as a case study being an area of constant mutation, social conflicts and transformation since more than 50 years. The old coastal Saida road was the only direct means of physical connection between the capital Beirut and the southern capital Saida and a main artery for commercial activities long before the establishment of the southern highway in 1970’s. During this period, villages (Aramoun, bchamoun, hadath, baawarta, etc.) located on the east hills of the road lived a self-sufficient economy, which rarely depended on mobility to the capital Beirut, except for educational or administrative reasons. The establishment of the highway has accelerated urbanization of the southern extension of Beirut (figure 1) and these neighborhoods have been transformed to what so called “dormitory” towns, and the attraction essentially deviated towards Beirut in the first place on a daily basis. Making the present known by "The old Saida road" a “left-over” of the highway and a lost potential that remains until today, an open scene for urban neglect; Concerning the existing “highway”, it has been transformed into a functional and social rupture of the region which undergoes a detachment between the residential districts of Chouaifat located on the eastern side, and the predominantly touristic and recreational districts of Khaldeh on the west side of the highway. • Research aim and questions


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The research aims to analyze the existing urban situation of Khaldé coastal line and to develop a strategic master plan guideline to retrofit the present infrastructure towards a more sustainable waterfront. It will be exploring the answers as well to these key questions: What are the main reasons behind the urban physical and social rupture in coastal line? Who are the main stakeholders responsible for the future urban transformation under the emergence of new Urban intervention approaches and platforms? What is the impact of urban retrofitting on the functional and social aspects in coastal lines?

• Methodology:

The research’s methodology follows both qualitative and quantitative methods and conducts a community survey that analyzes the site from the user’s perspective. The qualitative approach is mainly about generating a comprehensive knowledge on data that is contextual, detailed and rich. It includes first, keywords definitions, meanings and new concepts investigation in addition to an analytical study of local and international examples of urban retrofitting in coastal line. Second this approach develops a site survey of the different urban layers of the coastal line of Khaldeh, including a detailed site analysis, interview with local authority stakeholder, and a questionnaire addressed to the different users’ categories. The questionnaire is based on both qualitative and quantitative methods: qualitative as it’s structured to get valuable information about specific analysis criteria such as economic state, mobility, residential typologies, activities practiced and social relationships . The questionnaire is followed by a quantitative statistical analysis.

• Results/findings

The site survey layered the region into six different physical aspects of study: a. The actual master plan of the region tackles mainly the land use divided into three

parallel zones: Residential, commercial and touristic detached one form the other and are physically separated by the highway.

b. The green surfaces, almost absent and not protected c. The maritime public domain of the site violated on 80% of the total site coastal

length d. The public space limited to the street network and some walkways established in

addition to the old railway. e. The mobility and transportation including the study of walkability, and public

transportation: The individual vehicular is the main method of transportation where 75% of the population depend on their private cars on a daily basis.

f. The poles of attraction The site analysis offers a clear and detailed interpretation of the existing situation related to all the physical aspects of an urban analysis. This phase is followed by an in-depth interview with local authorities to investigate the governance aspect of the site and to search for answers about decision making and the regulatory framework. The local authority in one of the major stakeholders in the urban development of any city and of Choueifat in particular. The interview will focus on the vision of the local authority and the future development plans intended to be establish on the coastal line, whether it was public initiation or public private partnership.


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The community questionnaire conducted within the site region is addressed to three different categories of users: 1. The permanent citizens in the region, 2. The users who only work as employees or own a business in the region and 3. The users who are passing through for leisure and tourism. The questions focus on the way users are occupying the site, their mobility inside, towards and out of the region, the activities they use in the region, their relationship with the coast, the frequency of their visit to the coastal line, their safety, their integration and their participation in the decision making.

• Significant/general conclusions The estimated conclusions of this research have to show interesting results responding to the aim and answering the key questions of the study:

- The citizen’s preferences for outing destinations and walkability are constrained by the facilities, accessibility and services in available open spaces.

- Coastal line development is a fusion of an economic development, design questions, and environmental issues. It cannot be limited to a land use zoning plan and communicating only one layer of the urban complexity.

- Community engagement is integral to successful waterfront interventions and development operation: It should start in early stages and be continuous.

- Urban retrofitting has to be applied to all the phusical layers of the project: - The functional and land use - The public space - Public art - Transportation, mobility and accessibility - Public access to the maritime public domain - Etc…

- Urban retrofitting should be accompanied by the improvement of the governmental urban regulations, coordination, and oversight of the waterfront, the establishment of a long-term management strategy to design, fund and maintain the cycle of any future project, and at last to create a customized business model to include public and private partnership in a sustainable

abstract proposal for 2020 igu urban commission meeting

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