URBAN STUDIES FOUNDATION
Contemporary Public Space Supply in a Post-Conflict Situation:
The Case of Beirut, Lebanon
Dr. Christine Mady, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Architecture, Art and Design (FAAD), Notre
Dame University (NDU), Louaize, Lebanon.
In November 2013 and upon successfully meeting the requirements, I was awarded the Urban
Studies Foundation (USF) International Fellowship (IF) to continue research on my doctoral thesis
topic related to temporary public spaces in conflict situations. This postdoctoral research was
conducted at the University of Reading, School of Real Estate and Planning, Henley Business School
over the period of five months: 1 March – 31 July 2014. This report is divided into two parts, the first
covering the research related activities during the five months, and the second reflecting on the
added value of this fellowship.
Overview of the Work Done
In preparation for the five months’ stay at the University of Reading, and prior to my departure to
the UK, I had prepared a weekly calendar and shared it with my mentor. The purpose of this
calendar was first, to ensure the delivery of the fellowship requirements as stated in my application.
These included two articles to be published in two refereed academic journals specified in the
application, and the paper and presentation for the AESOP conference, which took place in July,
during the fourth month of my stay in the UK. Second, I wanted to keep track of my weekly research
activities, and organise my time between researching and compiling databases, reading, and writing
up. All other events were factored in the calendar, for example attending lectures, conferences, and
so on.
The following provides an overview of the main activities conducted during my stay, which included
research on specific topics leading to preparatory work for journal article publications, attending
lectures, and conferences:
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Researched specific topics including: urban planning theory, complexity theory, public
spaces and conflict, recent literature on Lebanon, ‘othering’, identities, nationalism, social
movements, temporary uses, globalisation and public spaces and other. The readings were
accompanied by write ups and discussions. This allowed me to continue developing the
theme of temporary public spaces and their supply in conflict situations, and to further
establish the basis for the two peer reviewed academic journal articles: “Planning in the face
of ‘deep divisions’: A view from Beirut, Lebanon” submitted to the Planning Theory Journal,
and “Reinstating Public Space in Conflict Situations: A Perspective from Beirut” submitted to
the Urban Studies Journal. The abstracts of these articles and commentary on them are
presented in the second part of this report.
Attended postgraduate sessions on urban planning conducted by my mentor and one of the
PhD researchers under her supervision. These were related to planning, conflict and public
good.
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Attended a lecture on 12 March entitled ‘Research Strategies for Organizational History: A
dialogue between historical theory and organization theory’ by Professor Michael Rowlinson
at the Henley Business School, University of Reading.
Attended a conference at the University of Westminster entitled ‘New Perspectives on the
Problem of the Public’ 15-16 May.
Attended the AESOP Conference: From Control to Co-Evolution in Utrecht/ Delft, the
Netherlands 9-12 July and presented the paper entitled ‘Public Space Supply in Post-Conflict
Situations: the Case of Beirut’. This paper is available in the conference proceedings and was
presented in Track 10 on ‘planning in stressful situations’.
Reflecting on the International Fellowship
The second part of the report is a reflection on the value of this international fellowship in relation
to the advancement of my research on public spaces in conflict situations. The USF International
Fellowship provided an opportunity to be in a research environment conducive of discussions and
academic exchange, to have access to academic resources and focus on research work, and has
paved the way for future academic research development. I elaborate these three aspects in the
following.
Research Environment
Being in the UK, a leading country in research on urban planning, meant having access through
announcements and mailing lists that disseminate information on conferences, and academic events
related to my research topic across universities in the UK and within Europe. Another significant
implication of the fellowship is mobility, which is essential for academic development. This enabled
me to travel within the UK and Europe with facilitations in terms of transportation and
accommodation. Mobility in Lebanon is limited to the initiative and availability of funds by the
individual, which means that the frequency of participating in conferences and academic events
decreases. Another important implication of being in the UK includes exposure to scholars and
academics from neighbouring Mediterranean countries who are also working on research abroad,
and establishing possibilities for future research collaboration across countries.
Research Focus
Two aspects are important to highlight in relation to research related to public spaces: the
significance of being based at the University of Reading, and the exposure to various research topics
as part of my five months’ stay. The main benefit of being at the University of Reading included the
prompt arrangements for a work space with open access hours, access to photocopying, library, eresources and inter-library loans.
Regarding the research topic, already during the PhD research period, I was exposed to literature on
public space from various perspectives, but the thesis work focused on literature from the disciplines
of urban design and new institutional economics. Aspirations to further explore the topic from other
perspectives were accumulating following the thesis defence, and the start of my academic career.
Prior to arriving at Reading, I had already shared with the mentor my PhD thesis in preparation for
the work and research topics to follow during the fellowship period with the purpose of defining a
clear scope and objectives for my five months stay in the UK. At the University of Reading and with
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the purpose of resituating my work in the context of conflict, and while focusing on the role of
temporary public spaces in Beirut, I was interested in investigating theoretical approaches from
which to generalise my findings from Beirut. With this in mind and the mentor’s guidance, I set to
review the literature. Research work during the first two months of my stay comprised familiarising
myself with literature on complexity theory, urban planning and the relations between both
theories. This included searching the literature and establishing databases, reading and summarising
material, linking it to my research on public spaces, and discussing different aspects with the
mentor. This work led to widening the research scope, and exploring other topics such as planning in
developing countries, planning with temporary uses, emergence of temporary activities,
globalisation and local identities, interventions in conflict situations, ‘othering’, exclusion and
nationalism, collaborative planning and so on. A review of recent literature on Lebanon and a rereading of its planning in relation to geographic and political contexts were also conducted. An
overarching aim was to establish a link between these different perspectives and the findings of the
empirical work done on public spaces in Beirut. With the determination to link my empirical work to
social divisions in conflict situations, I also investigated literature on identities, knowing that the civil
war in Lebanon caused many Lebanese to identify themselves in relation to their religion, sect or
political affiliation rather than their nationality. This led me to explore literature on nationalism, the
construction of a nation, and nationality in relation to public spaces.
In the third month at Reading, and after discussions with the mentor, I was referred to the writings
of two authors in specific, Elinor Ostrom and Peter Evans in order to see whether their approaches
fit within the context in Beirut in relation to the supply mechanisms of temporary public spaces.
Discussions with the mentor on these references led to further research and reading on social
movements, bottom up supply, activism and public spaces. The fourth month of my stay focused on
the preparation of the paper for the AESOP conference, which was successfully delivered. This paper
was the basis on which the articles submitted to the two journals were developed.
Research Development
The third aspect related to this fellowship is future research development. As part of the fellowship
period, I intended to establish connections and network with other scholars working on research
topics related to public spaces and conflict in particular. This materialised towards the end of my
stay and with the AESOP conference, following my presentation. In addition to the persons
presenting in the same track, I had the opportunity to get in touch with the AESOP public spaces
thematic group and explore possibilities of research collaboration based on this theme but also on
geographic contexts. This networking meant that upon my return to Lebanon, I am still working on
realising these possibilities through the exchange of research work and the planning for future
research projects on public spaces in the Mediterranean, in the Middle East, and in conflict
situations.
Submitted Journal Articles
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The first article submitted to the Planning Theory Journal was entitled: “Planning in the face of ‘deep
divisions’: A view from Beirut, Lebanon”. The idea for it was based on re-reading literature on urban
planning in the global south. The purpose was to emphasise the significant role of planning
initiatives in mitigating social divides within conflict situations, and investigate the extent to which
the supply mechanism of temporary public spaces in the context of Beirut is a collaborative process
among a network of stakeholders. The empirical data on three case studies from my PhD research
was used to illustrate aspects relevant to the proposed theoretical framework in the research. The
case studies related mainly to activities that did not stem from political and religious affiliations, but
rather focused on rebuilding the Lebanese national identity. The abstract and key words for the
article follow.
This article discusses planning in the global South-East while focusing on the specific context of social
divides, political turmoil and conflict situations. The article proposes a five-ways framework based on
political science and planning to theory to analyse such contexts. The article explores the case of
Beirut, Lebanon that has undergone several episodes of internal and external conflicts resulting in a
society splintered along sectarianism. Three case studies of open urban spaces and their public
activities are analysed using the five-ways framework The discussion indicates how economic
liberalism that is prevalent in countries of the South-East, along with place-based identities, interestbased identities, consensus orientated processes, and institutionalism might facilitate a cultivation of
deep values away from a narrowly constructed identity. The article argues that planners should
understand the options for positive action that aim to bridge deep divisions and suggests the fiveways framework provides a reference for contextualising in different ways to suit particular contexts.
Therefore, the framework is not necessarily restricted to the South-East but could be applicable to
any context which manifests deep divisions.
Keywords: Global South-East, planning initiatives, bridging divides, conflict, Beirut.
The second article submitted to the Urban Studies Journal was entitled: “Reinstating Public Space in
Conflict Situations: A Perspective from Beirut”. In this article, I referred to literature on the role of
public spaces in crisis and conflict situations globally, while focusing on the example of Beirut, and its
temporary public spaces. My interest was to explain the spatial manifestations of conflict and their
social implications with the purpose of appreciating and further supporting initiatives that are able
to mitigate these adverse consequences. The abstract and key words for the article follow.
The potential role of public spaces to mitigate social and spatial effects of conflicts in cities is
explored in this article. Conflicts caused by a variety of universal and contextual differences currently
affect cities globally and in turn their urbanites. Within a proposed framework for understanding
conflicts, and their social and spatial impacts on cities, the role of public spaces to mitigate these
effects is explored. In the past decade, research on public spaces has revealed interesting and
significant changes in terms of the spaces’ uses, stakeholders, contextual adaptations, and innovative
supply mechanisms that enable meeting collective needs. Yet little is known about the supply of
public spaces, and innovative mechanisms in unstable and stressful situations, such as war-afflicted
cities. Through the proposed framework, this article informs this subject by examining two cases in
Beirut, Lebanon. By framing types of conflict and their implications on public space supply, this article
demonstrates how temporary markets as public spaces in Beirut have had a constructive role in
providing opportunities for encounter and interaction away from the ‘othering’ injected by conflict.
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The article concludes that generating common interests and reinforcing a common identity are
essential in reinstating public spaces, changing the perception of spatially fragmented cities, and
bridging over differences in conflict-ridden contexts.
Keywords: conflict, temporary public space, Beirut, markets, social integration.
Concluding Remarks
Based on the work described above, my aspiration in this postdoctoral research was to work
towards a theoretical framework that would inform cities specifically in the post-Arab Spring
contexts on how to approach the supply of public spaces that would support and facilitate social
integration in conflict situations. To realise this aspiration, I have formulated a database with
relevant references, established contacts with other academics working on similar topics, and
prepared a personal research development plan for the next academic year. This will help me to
pursue research on this topic in parallel with my academic duties, to exchange at relevant times
work with other scholars, and eventually to disseminate this work through publications.
This fellowship was instrumental in developing my research skills and in furthering my knowledge on
the research topic on conflict and the role of public spaces. It also opened opportunities to expand
and relate this topic across various disciplines, and examine different perspectives with the purpose
of further understanding and theorising on the basis of empirical findings from my doctoral research
work.
I would like to thank the Urban Studies Foundation for giving me this opportunity to reside at a host
academic institution in the UK, but also dedicate an extensive time period to research, and have the
exposure to develop my academic research skills. What I have acquired in these five months will
certainly be of great advantage in my academic career, and current position as Assistant Professor at
FAAD, NDU.
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