No better way to spend a Tuesday AM/ PM.
@LCPSLebanon @mona_fawaz

There are many excellent points so threading.

1. it is paramount to distinguish between processes by location. What happens in Mar Mkhayel is not what happens in Karantina. Beirut is not a uniform urban fabric. https://twitter.com/LCPSLebanon/status/1298269796283244546

2. It is paramount to distinguish between naming processes by location. Gentrification is not an all-encompassing diagnosis of displacing communities. In the case of Karantina, it is forced abandonment. (paraphrasing)

3. the process of financialization [in Lebanon] is the process of suspending neighborhoods into deposit boxes. The wealth generated from these deposit boxes is centralized within a small class of political actors and their bank associates.

4. So what you get is a city of deposit boxes. Revenues from all the deposit boxes do to that small (ruling) class. In other words, you get a hijacked city corps along with its economy in the name of real estate projects.

5. ما العمل؟
Vacancy in some of the posh new buildings is around 56%. Imposing a vacancy tax can help direct upcoming new buildings back to their original purpose - to serve people of the city.

6. Creating EQUITABLE urbanization processes should be the goal not just in Beirut, but all over Lebanon. Through the proper incentive structures, it is possible for the Central Bank to support the residents, the small shop owners, to restore and even improve their neighborhoods

7. Solutions (temporary/permanent) targeting recently displaced people and the youth segments can be formulated on the municipal level. Housing policies or negotiations with owners of existing buildings with sound structures can go a long way to keep the city's heart beating.

8. Re: Heritage.
The upcoming generation of any city, especially if said city is in constant flux, need to have 'something for us'. That something is food, a place, a staircase. An anchor for a collective identity is important for survival and for the future.

9. What we must do for property owners is to gain them as allies. Down the divisive narratives of 'heritage' versus 'development'. There is a way to recover economy and heritage and it will take time.

10. Re: the quest to preserve heritage. Another confinement to break out of is the 'restoration of one building' and thinking of this effort as a shared collective (I will add messy) effort.

11. go to 29:01 for your daily dose of #numtot rant.

12. Note to activists: Recognizing the cracks, faults, and failures of the system is important BUT reducing your role to that of the opposition is not a productive venue. #preach

13. End Thread.
@NadimElkak episode 7 was excellent. thank you!