Coventry after WWII, Sheffield after the steel industry collapsed and Glasgow because it needed to, all become models of urban regeneration with what modern marketing men would call a brand image – anyone remember the campaign “Glasgow smiles better”?
Nearly twenty years ago, a team of architects, engineering consultants and town planners conceived a master plan for Beirut. One of the leaders of that team was a gentleman by the name of Angus Gavin, now head of Urban Development with Solidere, the company responsible for implementing that plan and managing the real estate created.
About forty members of the BLBG (British Lebanese Business Group), together with HMA to the Lebanon, Frances Guy, had the good fortune to be addressed by Angus about the past, present and future for urban Beirut (known as Down Town). He knows his stuff and used over sixty slides with more than two hundred images in total to support his address on the current status of and the future plans for regenerating Beirut.
Green spaces, pedestrian walkways, buildings restored with local skills that many had thought lost, like stone masonry, modern sky-scrapers and a restored water front are all blended together to create an integrated living, shopping, working and recreational space for locals and tourists alike.
Nearly twenty years ago, a team of architects, engineering consultants and town planners conceived a master plan for Beirut. One of the leaders of that team was a gentleman by the name of Angus Gavin, now head of Urban Development with Solidere, the company responsible for implementing that plan and managing the real estate created.
About forty members of the BLBG (British Lebanese Business Group), together with HMA to the Lebanon, Frances Guy, had the good fortune to be addressed by Angus about the past, present and future for urban Beirut (known as Down Town). He knows his stuff and used over sixty slides with more than two hundred images in total to support his address on the current status of and the future plans for regenerating Beirut.
Green spaces, pedestrian walkways, buildings restored with local skills that many had thought lost, like stone masonry, modern sky-scrapers and a restored water front are all blended together to create an integrated living, shopping, working and recreational space for locals and tourists alike.
Well, that’s the theory.
And practice is getting close. OK there are issues with parking (not enough), security (too intrusive), a few basic needs (“I can’t buy a bottle of milk”, someone complained) and Solidere’s share price (it stubbornly refusing to budge despite the nearly doubling of real estate values in the last three years). Some of those natural market forces will fix, others need a change of habit, lifestyle and the focusing of political will. Old photos of Beirut show tramcars, taxis and a railway station. Only the service system of taxi sharing survives, but Angus believes that the not too distant future will see dramatic improvements in public transport in line with trends in other major world cities and the increasing urgency of finding greener methods of travel.
From the work done to date, Beirut is now a recognized brand in the field of Mediterranean urban planning, with the concepts being exported to Cairo, Jeddah and Montenegro. All it needs now is a tag line: pity, but “Beirut smiles better” has been done before.
Please note that any errors of fact in this are entirely mine
And practice is getting close. OK there are issues with parking (not enough), security (too intrusive), a few basic needs (“I can’t buy a bottle of milk”, someone complained) and Solidere’s share price (it stubbornly refusing to budge despite the nearly doubling of real estate values in the last three years). Some of those natural market forces will fix, others need a change of habit, lifestyle and the focusing of political will. Old photos of Beirut show tramcars, taxis and a railway station. Only the service system of taxi sharing survives, but Angus believes that the not too distant future will see dramatic improvements in public transport in line with trends in other major world cities and the increasing urgency of finding greener methods of travel.
From the work done to date, Beirut is now a recognized brand in the field of Mediterranean urban planning, with the concepts being exported to Cairo, Jeddah and Montenegro. All it needs now is a tag line: pity, but “Beirut smiles better” has been done before.
Please note that any errors of fact in this are entirely mine
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