“August 4, 2020, the day that impacted and wrecked the lives of thousands of Lebanese. This day is not just a day to mourn and grieve, but also a day that is a major wake-up call for change. Living and rebuilding will continue, but what happened on this day will never be forgotten nor forgiven.”
The divided city is ‘a physical crisis nestled within a political crisis’. The physical nature of the city stems from its spatial, psychological, and economic dynamics that operate semi-autonomously and differentiates it from larger political milieus. In most cases, a divided society will eventually generate a divided urban space, hence a clear interrelation is made between a divided society and a divided city. It is a matter of the connection between social ramification and social inequality on the one hand and spatial segregation on the other. Inequalities can aggravate inconsistencies and abandon society’s most vulnerable members.
Aouad’s presentation Neighborhood Planning for a Divided City will investigate neighborhood planning as a flexible framework that one must undertake to provide the divided city of Beirut with a healthy and sustainable development for the future years to come. Acknowledging that difference and diversity are a noteworthy feature of the city and its society, and should hence be incorporated in any planning approach, even if the consequences on the ground may differ, and considering that planning could change the spatial, economic, social, and political dimensions of a defined urban space, it would be crucial to depict which of these dimensions can be used to intensify or lessen contestations over space in the case of a divided city such as Beirut