An integrated master plan governs urban development at the national level and cascades down to cities, towns and villages

Refurbish Lebanon’s urban environment in cities, towns and villages to make it livable, resilient and focused on residents’ wellbeing

A Clean, Preserved and Resilient Environment

1.Urban planning is a technical and political process concerned with the development and design of land use and the built environment

2.Urban planning deals with physical layout of human settlements

3.Urban planners work in the fields of architecture, landscaping, civil engineering, and public administration to achieve sustainability and wellbeing goals

4.Enforcement methodologies include governmental zoning, planning permissions, and building codes, as well as private easements and restrictive covenants

1.Livability

2.Walkability

3.Urban density

4.Urban sustainability indicators

5.Time travel index

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1.Lebanon has, for decades, witnessed rapid and uncontrolled urban growth, with 87% of the population now living in urban areas

2.This urban growth was not accompanied by any state policies or plans

3.The master plan is old and outdated - The urban master plans that do exist are concentrated along the coastal zone, however 84% of the country has no designated master plan

4.The urban planning system in Lebanon is fragmented, incomplete and inefficient, and is being executed in a highly centralized manner

5.Moreover, it does not address sustainability, livability, accessibility, environment, spatial and equity issues, green and recreational areas

6.Consequently, Lebanese cities and towns are challenged by the lack of basic services, transport and environmental problems, and a deterioration of the natural environment

7.Poor urban planning is claimed to be the primary cause of unaffordable housing and is linked to lower economic performance

8.Socio-economic inequalities are growing as well as class and sectarian segregation and spatial fragmentation

1.Urban policy is not recognized as a separate category of public policy. The term “urban” is essentially absent from Lebanese laws. In 2016, a Minister of State for Planning was elected, but was not equipped with adequate resources to operate. Currently, the ministry is not functioning. Due to the lack of an official planning institution, urban issues are currently addressed by multiple actors, with different tools, procedures and temporalities. Lack of coordination between these players, especially between local and national governments, is a significant challenge to developing urban policies

2.Three are 3 categories of urban tools related to three scales of planning: The Territorial Land Use Plan, the Master Plan, and the Detailed Plan, but the articulation between the 3 was never clearly specified. For e.g. a resourceful, large and diverse municipal actor-network may well discard the master plan tool or decide to elaborate one on its own in order to get technical and legal coverage and approvals from the DGU and the HCUP

3.Some zoning regulations accelerate urbanization, resulting in chaotic urban agglomerations

4.The current system is not immune to political interference and is often geared towards maximizing land use coefficients

5.On the eve of the 2018 legislative elections, the Ministry of Interior was authorized to issue building permits which is not its role, simply for electoral purposes

1.In 1977, the Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR) was established and tasked with rebuilding the damaged infrastructure of the country, thus dismantling the Ministry of Planning

2.The Municipal Law (Decree 118/1977) was passed in 1977

3.The Urban Planning Code (69/1983) states that the Directorate General for Urbanism (DGU) is responsible for developing and reviewing master plans for cities and villages

4.In addition, while there is no law that is specific to urban issues, many laws include legal texts that address them. Such texts specifying the production and management of urban spaces include: real estate property code (1930), building code (2004), code on the environment (2002), decree on the protection of the coastline (1966), laws on the protection of natural sites (1939) and forests (1966), decree on the protection of historic monuments and antiquities (1933), decree on the location of certain industrial and commercial buildings (1932)

5.The National Physical Master Plan of the Lebanese Territory (NPMPLT) was adopted in 2009, it is a comprehensive land-use plan for the entire Lebanese territory with a managerial committee consisting of members from different ministries and headed by the head of the DGU

6.Other plans have been developed and not enacted, such as Master Plan for the Metropolitan Region of Beirut for 1983-1986, the Socioeconomic Program for Post-conflict Development for Southern Lebanon in 1998-1999, the ‘Schéma Régional d’Aménagement et de Développement Durable du Territoire’, for the Union of Municipalities of Tripoli ‘Alfayhaa’

7.A large number of actors have urban planning mandates. These include the: DGU, Higher Council of Urban Planning (HCUP), Council of Development and Reconstruction (CDR), Union of Municipalities (UoM), and Ministries (Ministry of Interior and Municipalities MoIM, Ministry of Environment MOE, Ministry of Public Works MoPW, Ministry of Energy and Water MoEW), and private actors such as Order of Engineers and Architects (OEA)

Policy Action

1.Establish a ministry/agency for territorial and urban planning and development that will then develop and implement an integrated master plan at the national level

2.Ensure central authorities empower and support local authorities

3.Develop national urban policies and spatial frameworks for compact, integrated and connected cities

4.Create local urban plans that aim to increase the livability and sustainability of Lebanese cities, towns, villages and regions

5.Create urban boundaries so that the natural expansion of villages and towns is managed and controlled. Urban boundaries on edges of cities can control urban sprawl. Under such boundaries, construction outside inner districts will be prohibited, and urban size will not be even further extended

6.Develop public policies that favor development where infrastructure already exists

7.Connect remote areas to the main infrastructure networks