URBAN PLANNING

BIERUT EVOLUTION

BY
SHAMIK SHINDE, SHRUTI PATKAR , SHALIN KAPDI, AJAY KUSHWAHA

SEM 9 ,PHCOA
The city of Beirut (33°53′ N, 35°29′ E), Lebanon's
capital, is a coastal city set on a peninsula on the
east shore of the Mediterranean Sea and extends
over 9 km into the sea.

The north and west sides are open to the sea while
the east side is surrounded by Mount Lebanon.

The city has a Mediterranean semi-arid climate

characterized by four distinct seasons; a pleasant fall
and spring, a cool rainy winter and a hot humid
summer.

Beirut is a city that has several types of historical

heritage, such as Phoenician, Hellenistic, Roman,
Byzantine, Mamluk, Ottoman, French Mandate and
other styles.

The area of downtown Beirut contains sites and

monuments from more than 5,000 years of
civilizations.

The urban growth of Beirut city began in downtown

Beirut, which contains the start of Beirut’s city
growth

INTRODUCTION
 Beirut is a city on the Mediterranean basin that was
placed between the sea and the mountains.

This geographic character of Beirut shaped the city’s

history and developed the role of the city in the
region as a link between the mountain and the sea,
between the East and the West.

This role shaped not only the socio-economy but

also the development of the urban macroform.

Beirut’s city pattern has been composed of many

historical layers dated to 1200BC and these layers
formed the city’s urban identity.

Some elements of these layers survived and

enhanced the city’s heritage and identity.

Beirut was under Ottoman rule between 1516 and

1920 and after 1920 till 1943 it was the French
Mandate what gave way to the development of
Beirut.

INTRODUCTION
Beirut city has suffered from several war eras: the Second World War, the Arab–Israeli war, civil war and the Israel–Hezbollah war.
The Second World War brought about the full independence that was established in the country in 1946, after the Allied troops
returned to Beirut.
The Arab–Israeli war, from 1947 to 1949, affected the city due to the massive influx of Palestinian refugees.

The war that had the greatest effect on the image of Beirut city was the civil war from 1975, which lasted about 15 years.
During this war, Beirut became the main center of conflict, directly affecting the heritage of the city and damaging many
buildings of urban heritage, especially in the downtown area. In 1975–1990, during the civil war, Beirut was divided into two
parts - east Beirut (Christians) and west Beirut (Muslims) - by a demarcation line known as the green line .
URBAN DEVELOPMENT PATTERN
1876 BIERUT LAYOUT
HISTORY OF URBAN PLANNING
 The Central Beirut area is now the hub for regional and national activities, such as commercial offices, bank
headquarters, government ministries, hotels and administrative offices

HISTORY OF URBAN PLANNING

1931- DANGER PLAN
1936
EVOLUTION OF PUBLIC SPACES AND LANDMARKS
Public spaces date back to the Ottoman period that include
the Sanayeh Garden, the Serail and its gardens, Sahat Al Sur
(Riadh Solh Square) and the Corniche. These were construed
as instruments to modernise the city.

The city was reshaped during the French Mandate period to

reflect the French way of living with its cafés, cinemas and
promenades, but further to set the stepping stone towards
establishing an independent Lebanese state. Traces of these
spaces include Sahat Al Hamidiyah (Martyrs Square), Place de
l’Etoile, the Pine Forest, and the Corniche, planned in
Ottoman times.

During the 1975 war period, with the evacuation of the city
centre, social and physical fragmentation along the Damascus
Road demarcation line came the annihilation of public spaces
including major squares, and transportation hubs and their
conversion to militia spaces. This eradication caused a
distortion in the socio-cultural Beirut framework and a huge
gap in people’s everyday public lives.

After independence, French experts prepared several plans

for Beirut with varying emphasis on its public spaces and a
focus on the transportation network and the urban expansion
related to population growth.

The currently adapted 1954 Eco chard Plan, indicated the

importance of public spaces. However, little beyond streets
was executed as open spaces.

Through later plans, the public space factor was slowly

diluted at the expense of private development interests. This
resulted in the current dense urban fabric with rare breathing
spaces shared by an ever growing population.

PRE WAR PUBLIC SPACES

TRANSFORMATION FROM 1841-1876 OF CITY CENTER
1876 - LANDMARKS
In the city center there were six mosques and at least three
churches.

One of the most important mosques was the Jami’ al-Umari

al-Kabir and the largest of the churches was the Greek
Orthodox church of Saint George.

Other churches were the Maronite church and a Catholic

church. Another church of Saint George was located
outside the city walls near the Dog River (Nahr al-Kalb).

The administrative facilities of Beirut in the first half of the

nineteenth century were directed by the seraglio which was
on the eastern end of the city and the house of local judge.

The rest of Beirut’s public buildings were the public baths

and hotels.
One of the public baths was located near the seraglio, one
hotel was on the harbor and another was on the western
edge of town
SQUARE

Built by the ottoman during their occupation ; known as cannon

square.

It was reformed into a rectangular plaza during the French

mandate.
MARTYRS’

It was later renamed into martyrs square.

It was the hub of city center.

It has statues of famous martyrs.

In todays world, it is a large empty space.

 PRE- WAR TO WAR PERIOD

DEMOLITION OF LARGE AREAS OF BCD

COMMERCIALIZATION OF DEMOLISHED
CENTER
SWIFT URBANIZATION OF THE
IMPOSING OF TRUNCATED PLACE DE
PERIPHERY
I’ETOILE
STREAMLINING PORT-CENTER
INTRODUCTION OF HYGIENE
CONNECTION
INTRODUCTION OF COLONIAL
MASS EXODUS TOWARDS CITY
PLANNING
PERIPHERY
BCD- POST WAR
Beirut’s society is divided across sectarian lines and this division has accentuated the cultural polarisation between
contrastive civic groups;
(ii) Cross-cultural contacts and exchanges are likely to dilute perceived differences (chiefly, negative stereotypes)
amongst religious, ethnic and cultural groups and thus participate to reunite a divided city into a united cosmopolis;
(iii) Urban design has the capacity to increase access by breaking the physical and mental barriers controlling public
spaces, chiefly through the provision of open-ended designs
EVOLUTION OF CONNECTIVITY AND NETWORKS
Beirut grew from a small town built at the human scale into a city guided by its main public transport lines.
Beirut’s famous port and its commercial ties to Europe (and at later periods, to the United States of America)
naturally led it to grow in economic strength. This subsequently then led to an increased growth in population. By
1876, Beirut had burst out of its fortified walls and become one of the most important cities on the Eastern
Mediterranean.
Beirut Tramway:
As with any growing city, Beirut’s population increase necessitated the introduction of an efficient mass transit
system, as horse drawn carriages could not keep up with the demand of the populous. As such, in 1908, a Belgian
Company was given a concession to provide Public Transport Services as well as Electrical Street Lighting. Thus,
Beirut’s Tramway was born.
The tram system consisted of 3 lines connecting Beirut from:
(1) Manara (Ras Beirut) to Nahr (Beirut River),
(2) From Borj Plaza (Martyrs Square) going South to Horsh Beirut, and
(3) from Borj Plaza (Martyrs Square) to Furn El Chebbak.
Tram operations ran from 1908 until 1963, during which the tramway was an essential part of Beiruti culture.
By superimposing the tram lines that we have on the map of the spatial growth of the city, we observe how the city
grew along these important trunk lines.
Removal of the Trams:
By the 1950s, the automobile began to play a bigger role in urban transport in Beirut. The shared taxi option, or the
“Service” (pronounce Servees), that residents have come to know provided fixed route services along the tram lines as
well as other routes not served by tram. In parallel, microbus services were being used to connect to Beirut’s
suburbs.

The increased ability of Beirutis to afford cars led to a surge in car ownership in the 1960s. With the increased use of
the private car and shared taxis, the trams had to be removed in 1963 to make way for the car. At this moment in
time, cars were seen as the solution to all transport related problems. People all over the world thought that the car
was the future of transport. They believed that tramway lines were occupying valuable road space and needed to be
removed. This did not only happen in Beirut but was rather a worldwide trend which saw the removal of tram
systems from inner city streets to make way for private cars and motorized buses that were seen as more comfortable
After the end of the Second World War tram networks disappeared almost completely in many countries such as
France, Denmark, Spain, as well as being completely removed from cities such as Sydney. Going with the trend of the
time, 1964 saw the removal of the tramway lines and its replacement by Bus Lines serving the Beirut Area. The bus
system was operational up until the start of the Civil War in 1975.
The Effect of the War on Travel Patterns
Lebanon’s 15-year civil war resulted in the complete destruction of the Beirut Central District as well as the split of
Beirut into East and West. This naturally led to a loss of centrality of work places and led to a diversification in the
city’s land use. Many businesses spread to the suburbs and relocated within residential areas. Coupled with
heightened security and with the partitioning of the city, this rendered fixed route “Service” operation unfeasible.
By the 1980s and during the peak of the Civil War and Israeli invasions of Lebanon, European cities had started to
realize that removing tramways was a grave mistake and thus started reinstating them. In France, Nantes and
Grenoble reinstated their tram systems in 1985 and 1988. Lebanon had fallen behind and was not well-positioned
from an economic or social standpoint to follow suite. The lack of proper public transport services ultimately led to
the increase in car ownership and the unsustainable dependence of Beirut's residents on the automobile.

The Way Forward

Beirut’s streets are overburdened with cars, and cars are not the answer to our mobility needs. Lebanese
policymakers must wake up and make a paradigm shift in the way they approach this problem. Car dependence has
increased air pollution, sound pollution, fuel consumption and costs on the users as well as decreased the
walkability of the city and the feasibility of introducing a successful mass transit public transportation system. Road
space is a finite and very valuable commodity and assigning it fairly and democratically is a must.
The government, Beirut’s municipal council, and key decision makers are exploring the introduction of a ‘bus in
mixed traffic’ system. The idea involves introducing a state of the art bus network, complete with brand new buses,
attractive and comfortable bus stops, and real time information panels that let the passenger know when the bus will
arrive according to fixed time tables.
In theory, that is a great idea. However, given the congestion of Beirut’s streets, a state of the art bus that is also
stuck in traffic will not provide the needed improvement in the level of service. Without giving priority to these buses
(via bus lanes) inside the city, these buses will be as good as the systems they already have in place
EXISTING ROAD NETWORK
 Beirut Governorate is a Lebanese governorate that consists of one district and
one city, Beirut, which is also its capital, and the capital of Lebanon.

The area of this governorate is 19.8 km2 (without suburbs); despite its
small size, it is considered the most important region in Lebanon because of
its economic, political, cultural, and social activity. The governor of
Beirut is Greek Orthodox according to tradition, while the mayor is Sunni
Muslim. Beirut is known to be the most religiously diverse city in the Middle
East. There are about 2.5 million people in Beirut and its suburbs (Greater
Beirut). And 433,249 (without suburbs).
Map of Lebanon with Beirut
Governorate highlighted

Beirut is one of the most religiously diverse cities in the Middle East.
There is a total of 18 recognized religions within the area, include
four Muslim sects,
twelve Christian sects,
and a Jewish sect.

The city was relatively well blended until the civil war when Religion in the Beirut Governorate
segregation occurred. The eastern side of the city is mainly Christian, Islam (65%)
while the western side has a Sunni Muslim majority. However, in recent Druze (1%)
years, religious groups are becoming more integrated. Christianity(34%)

DEMOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION OF BEIRUT

 Beirut's 2021 population is now estimated at 2,434,609.

In 1950, the population of Beirut was 322,360. Beirut has grown by 10,184 since 2015, which represents
a 0.42% annual change

The population of Bierut have

been effected by numbers of
Lebanon's conflict and civil
wars
Between year 1970 to 2006.

At that time, the Lebanese

civil war (1970-1990)
occurred, divided the Muslims
and Christians of the city.

Tens of thousands of people

died because of the war, and
many others left to reside in
other countries.

The graphical data shows that the population of Beirut had gradually decreased from 1980 with population
of 1.6M to 1990 with population of 1.3M with 3 millions

DEMOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION OF BEIRUT

 Beirut
The population density map of
Lebanon from year 2000-2020
Shows that its highly densified
state is Beirut and its
suburbs with 1000+ persons
per square kilometer area
DEMOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION OF BEIRUT
Beirut
The settlement point map of
2000-2021
shows that the population from
rural to urban
In which Beirut shows high
settlement point ranging from 1M-
5M
Beirut
The urban extend map of 2000-
2020 illustrates the area of
urbanized place in Lebanon
Beirut and its suburbs comes under
urban extent indicates it is
developed state higher average
income, diverse industrial
economies
 Crude birth rates ,crude death rates versus the natural growth rate in Beirut .Per 10000

Birth rate was high before labenese

civil with high death rates

In 1990 ,with end of civil war the birth

rate declined and total birth in a year
was 39,000 with high death rate of
9,100 which directly affects the
natural growth rate for 1.3M
population of beriut

After the 1990's ,Beriut is undergoing

continuous declination of birth rate
because of fertility decline, with
constant death rates directly affecting
the natural growth

Since 2015 till 2020,beirut

mainainted its population with
constant rate leading it to developed
place with migrants every year

Death rate Natural growth Birth rate

DEMOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION OF BEIRUT

 Beirut –Male to female ratio of total population from 1950-2020

Lebanon male to female ratio was at level of 101.36 males per 100 females in 2020, up from 101.32 males per
100 females in 2015, this is a change of 0.03% .

During 1975-1990, labense civil war there was 120,000 fatalities. some people remain displaced ,which leds to
decline of sex ratio of beriut and other cities of labenon

DEMOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION OF BEIRUT

 Factors affected the demographic data of Lebanon and Beirut in past few year

• Lebanese Civil War refugees and displaced persons

With no official figures available, it is estimated that 600,000–900,000 persons fled the country during the
Lebanese civil war (1975–90).
Although some have since returned, this permanently disturbed Lebanese population growth and greatly
complicated demographic statistics.

10% of the Lebanese had a disability in 1990.Other studies have pointed to the fact that this portion of society is
highly marginalized due to the lack of educational and governmental support of their advancement.

• Immigrants and ethnic groups

There are substantial numbers of immigrants from other Arab countries and non-Arab-speaking Muslim countries.
Also, recent years have seen an influx of people from countries such as Indonesia the Philipinnes, Malaysia, Srilanka
,as well as smaller numbers of other immigrant minorities of Lebanese descent themselves.

Most of these are employed as guest workers in the same fashion as Syrians and Palestinians, and entered the
country to search for employment in the post-war reconstruction of Lebanon. Apart from the Palestinians, there are
approximately 180,000 stateless persons in Lebanon.

DEMOGRAPHIC EVOLUTION OF BEIRUT