The loss of urban form as a communicative system
A morphogenetic critique of the recent reconstruction of Beirut
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6418802 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Inés Aquilué Junyent (0000-0002-2813-6191, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 169 |
| Pages | 106535-106535 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-10 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Cities (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0264-2751 • E-ISSN: 1873-6084 |
| Publisher | Elsevier BV (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1016/j.cities.2025.106535 |
| OpenAlex | W4415022536 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 21 |
The continuing devastation and destruction of cities in the Middle East, accompanied by hasty debates about future reconstruction, is not a new phenomenon. The city of Beirut, severely affected by the Lebanese civil war (1975–1989), has witnessed the transformation of its city centre since the end of the conflict. The reconstruction plan led by the real estate company Solidere has resulted in a significant change in the form, function and identity of the city centre. The article uses the concept of urban morphogenesis to analyse how, over the course of more than three decades since the plan was approved, the urban system has been simplified through the eradication of plot subdivision, topological isolation, hyper-regulation and the use of heritage to select specific historical memories. This analysis demonstrates the tendency towards urban simplification through a sequence of destruction, securitisation and reconstruction, and argues that alternative processes of reconstruction are possible. • The sequence destruction-securitisation-reconstruction transformed Beirut's form. • The reconstruction plan in the centre of Beirut oversimplified its urban form. • The loss of historical ownership resulted in the loss of morphogenesis. • The reconstruction process physically isolated the newly Beirut Central District. • Future reconstruction processes should enhance urban complexity and morphogenesis.
Estate · Function (biology) · Identity (music) · Plan (archaeology) · Process (computing) · Sequence (biology) · Spanish Civil War · Urban planning · Middle East Politics and Society · Urban Design and Spatial Analysis · Urbanization and City Planning
From Reconstruction to Urban Preservation
Intelligibility of Post-War Reconstruction in French Bombed Cities
Post-conflict reconstruction and the decline of urban vitality in Downtown Beirut
Security
The Destruction of Memory; Architecture at War
Divided Cities in the Middle East
Learning to feel, learning to fear? Emotions, imaginaries, and limits in the politics of securitization
Urban identity policies in Berlin
Real estate, banking and war
Beirut
The crisis of cultural identity in rehabilitating historic Beirut-downtown
Urban Reconstruction in Europe After World War II
Exceptions and the actually existing practice of planning
Urban Heritage Along the Silk Roads
Reconstructions manquées à Beyrouth
Laying Claim to Beirut
| Highly cited | No |
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