Spurred by Privatization, Beirut's Working Class is Colonizing the City's Periphery
.jpg?1496153834)
Citizens of Beirut have been left behind in the city's drive to attract more tourism, leading to a building boom on the Lebanese capital's periphery.
© Manuel Alvarez Diestro
27 years after the Lebanese Civil War (1975 ? 1990), Beirut finds itself a city of conflicting personalities. A summer night stroll through the recently completed Zaitunay Bay Marina flaunts the capital?s ongoing facelift. What GQ calls ?the chosen destination for young rich cool kids across the globe? is now peppered with glitzy glass-clad high rises, world-class nightclubs, droves of foreign tourists, and high-profile architecture. A Steven Holl-designed yacht club is just minutes away from Herzog & de Meuron?s Beirut Terraces, a luxury condominium skyscraper overlooking a seaside promenade that the resort refers to as an ?urban beach.? However, this inner-city development has also had extreme consequences on the city's periphery, as shown clearly in this photoset by Manuel Alvarez Diestro.
© Manuel Alvarez Diestro
Beirut?s tourist-centric economy seems to be paying off on paper: MasterCard?s 2011 Index found that the ?Paris Of The Middle East? held the second-highest levels of visitor spending in the entirety of the Middle East and Africa. Even six years ago, tourism brought in a whopping $6.5 billion annual cash infusion to the city?s economy, and this number has grown rapidly. This is excellent news for Lebanon?s government, which has gleefully gambled with pr...
© Manuel Alvarez Diestro
27 years after the Lebanese Civil War (1975 ? 1990), Beirut finds itself a city of conflicting personalities. A summer night stroll through the recently completed Zaitunay Bay Marina flaunts the capital?s ongoing facelift. What GQ calls ?the chosen destination for young rich cool kids across the globe? is now peppered with glitzy glass-clad high rises, world-class nightclubs, droves of foreign tourists, and high-profile architecture. A Steven Holl-designed yacht club is just minutes away from Herzog & de Meuron?s Beirut Terraces, a luxury condominium skyscraper overlooking a seaside promenade that the resort refers to as an ?urban beach.? However, this inner-city development has also had extreme consequences on the city's periphery, as shown clearly in this photoset by Manuel Alvarez Diestro.
© Manuel Alvarez Diestro
Beirut?s tourist-centric economy seems to be paying off on paper: MasterCard?s 2011 Index found that the ?Paris Of The Middle East? held the second-highest levels of visitor spending in the entirety of the Middle East and Africa. Even six years ago, tourism brought in a whopping $6.5 billion annual cash infusion to the city?s economy, and this number has grown rapidly. This is excellent news for Lebanon?s government, which has gleefully gambled with pr...
| -------------------------------- |
|
|
