Dear Friends:
I am Howayda Al-Harithy a graduate of MIT and professor of architecture at AUB. I am writing to thank you for reaching out and for your support. I am also writing to inform you of the work we do at the Beirut Urban Lab at AUB http://beiruturbanlab.com/
We have launched a program for the urban recovery of Beirut after the criminal blast that took place on August 4. I am attaching a short note that explains the work we have set on track to respond to the crises and welcome any support that you wish to extend. Feel free to write to me with any questions or inquiries.
Thank you,
Research Director
The Beirut Urban Lab
Interim Chair
Department of Architecture and Design
American University of Beirut
The Beirut Urban Lab
Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture (MSFEA)
American University of Beirut (AUB)
In the aftermath of the horrific Beirut port blast that killed 200 people, wounded more than 5,000, and destroyed 80,000 buildings (about one-third of the city) on August 4, 2020, the Beirut Urban Lab is mobilizing its team and engaging in recovery efforts on two main fronts.
1. Documentation of damage to people’s dwellings and livelihoods
Using our GIS database of municipal Beirut which already includes several layers of data documenting the city’s built environment, we are coordinating efforts with AUB units (e.g. MSFEA, Center for Civic Engagement and Community Service), official stakeholders (e.g. Order of Engineers and Architects, Relief Commission) and NGOs (e.g. Nusaned), to compile damage assessment data, which we will be sharing with the wider public. We are also feeding this database with information about the built heritage of Beirut to geo-locate the clusters of cultural heritage in neighborhoods.
The goal is ensuring the variety of efforts collecting data on damage assessment feed into one dataset that will form the repository of the physical impact of the blast, from which informed recovery responses can occur.
Resources needed: GIS experts, surveyors, mapping/visualization researchers.
2. In-depth analysis of neighborhood clusters towards participatory urban recovery planning
We are deploying research teams in 3 clusters of the areas most impacted by the blast: Mar Mikhail, Karantina and Jeitawi, where we’re undertaking quick damage assessment and basic stakeholder analysis to understand the situation on the ground, and who’s doing what where and how.
Our goal is to also evaluate the situation of dwellers, livelihoods and businesses: Who is (un)able/(un)willing to stay in their home/work space? What are landlords/tenants doing? Are communal spaces operational (e.g. health dispensaries, schools, libraries, churches, youth centers, gathering spaces)? What are the conditions of heritage buildings?
We aim to undertake urban recovery of neighborhoods, where recovery is not mere reconstruction, but a process that restores social and economic networks and one that recovers spaces of shared memories and social significance to reconstitute both the built and the socio-cultural fabric of a place. It is therefore a process that is community based, bottom-up and participatory.
Resources needed: Field researchers, research coordinators.
We are seeking the support of grant agencies and donors to purse these efforts in order to enable us to effectively impact the recovery process in ways to ensure it follows an integrated interdisciplinary approach towards goals of livability, inclusion and environmental sustainability.