Development of the Southwestern Suburbs of Beirut




After the return of stability to Lebanon, the country witnessed a comprehensive planning and development which were long overdue. Since the early nineties, the government has been addressing issues of land development, urban and regional planning, infrastructure upgrade and social development along with a fiscal restructuring of the tax system to face the challenges of a new millennium and a fast changing world .

Encompassing nearly half of Lebanon's population , the metropolitan area of Beirut has been subject to a myriad of development and capital improvement projects to enhance its infrastructure, and attractiveness. These projects can be divided into two main categories:

1- Tactical intervention through projects with limited scopes such as the beltway, the Pan Arab highway, the new airport, Beirut gateways program , etc..... .
2-Strategic intervention through the planning and development of entire districts such as the Beirut central district, the development of Beirut suburbs, and the "Littoral Nord de Beirut"(Linord) . All these projects are underway with strong motivation and belief that Lebanon can and should regain its position as the Middle East center for culture, entertainment and services .

ELYSSAR" The planning and development of Beirut South Western Suburbs:

The development of Beirut Suburbs is a long term and exhaustive project due to three factors:
-The majority of Beirut metropolitan populations resides in these areas.
- At the macro scale the pace of urbanization in the suburbs was rapid and in some instance chaotic, leading to a fast deterioration of the physical fabric, the natural environment, and the out dated infrastructure.
-At the micro scale each suburb offers a unique set of difficulties which requires unconventional planning Solutions.