National Physical Master Plan of the Lebanese Territory

Final Report

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Forward

Introduction: Basics of the land use master plan.

CHAPTER I
UNCONTESTED
PHYSICAL FEATURES

I.1 The size of Lebanon and its geographic location.

I.2 Topography, an immutable fact.
I.3 Favorable areas for agriculture.
I.4 Distinguished natural areas and landscapes.
I.5 The Lebanese coastal zone: potential and characteristics.
I.6 Water resources and major water vulnerable areas.
I.7 Areas prone to natural hazards.
CHAPTER II
CHALLENGES
OF THE FUTURE

II.1 The challenge of economic development.

II.2 The challenge of social cohesion.
II.3 The demographic challenge.
II.4 The challenge of housing sector.
II.5 The challenge of needs: transport, water, waste, education, health.
II.6 The challenge of urban sprawl.
II.7 Environmental challenge.
II.8 The challenge of war and peace.

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CHAPTER III
BASIC CHOICES

III.1 A unitary and integrated development of the national territory.

III.2 A positive definition of the balanced development principle.
III.3 Rational use of resources.

CHAPTER IV
THE PERSPECTIVES OF THE
NATIONAL PHYSICAL MASTER PLAN

IV.1 Structuring the territory around the major urban centers.

IV.2 Integrating all regions into the national economic development.
IV.3 Unifying the territory through an efficient transportation network.
IV.4 Targeted distribution of major public facilities.
IV.5 Ensuring a Distinguished urban development respecting the characteristics
of each region.
IV.6 Re-evaluation of the natural wealth of the country.
IV.7 A sustainable development of water resources.
IV.8 Effective solutions to the problems of quarries, wastewater and solid
waste.

CHAPTER V
PRINCIPLES OF
LAND USE

V.1 The land use principles in urban, rural, agricultural and natural areas.
V.2 Rules to respect in areas with important sites (archeology, heritage,
exceptional natural sites).
V.3 The rules to respect in constraints prone areas (natural hazards and water
resources vulnerability).
V.4 Overall presentation of NPMPLT’s recommendations for land use.

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CHAPITRE VI
THE FIRST
IMPLEMENTATION PHASE
OF THE NPMPLT

VI.1 Transportation.
VI.2 Tourism.
VI.3 Industry.
VI.4 Agriculture.
VI.5 Education.
VI.6 Attraction of investments.
VI.7 Environment.
VI.8 Power.
VI.9 Water and Sewage.
VI.10 Solid Waste.
VI.11 Health.
VI.12 Administrative, local democracy and the tax system.
VI.13 Finances and Cadastre.
VI.14 Urban planning.
VI.15 Central support to the land management.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

PROJECT TEAM

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_________________________LIST OF TABLES

1. Lebanon: some key data.

2. Components of water balance in Lebanon.
3. GDP composition in 1997.
4. Projected population growth by groups of Mohafaza group for 2030.
5. Projected distribution of population by groups of Mohafaza for 2030.
6. Proportion of inhabitants in agglomerations in 2000 and in 2030.
7. Evolution of household size through 2030.
8. Evolution of housing stock in Lebanon through 2030.
9. Adopted hypotheses for possible evolution of behavior and needs for 2030.
10. Urban and demographic growth in the Central Urban Area.
11. Urban and demographic growth in the agglomeration of Tripoli.
12. Urban and demographic growth in the agglomeration of Saida.
13. Urban and demographic growth in the agglomeration of Jbayl.
14. Urban and demographic growth in the agglomeration of Zahle.
15. Urban and demographic growth in the agglomeration of Nabatiyeh.
16. Urban and demographic growth in the agglomeration of Baalbeck.
17. Urban and demographic growth in the agglomeration of Tyre.
18. Challenges of the future and required responses.
19. Resident population per size of agglomeration in 1970 and in 1997.
20. Population growth and motorized trip forecasts in the CUA.
21. Projections of the energy demand for 2030.
22. Current and future use of water resources.
23. Proposed dams of the MoEW scheme.
24. Proposed lakes of the MoEW scheme.
25. The investment priorities of NPMPLT for the proposed dams and lakes.
26. The large irrigation and drainage projects planned or currently under
consideration by the Lebanese Government.
27. Recommended regulations for construction, quarries and industrial
establishments in urban, rural, agricultural and natural areas.
28. Recommended regulations for construction, quarries and industrial sites, and
infrastructures in natural hazards prone areas.
29. Recommended regulations for construction, quarries and industrial sites in,
and around distinguished sites.

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_________________________LIST OF FIGURES

UNCONTESTED PHYSICAL FEATURES

I.1 Lebanon in the world.

I.2 Lebanon in the Middle East.
I.3 Topography features.
I.4 Schematic topographic section.
I.5 Population densities per morphological zone.
I.6 Soil maps.
I.7 Slopes.
I.8 Current use of agricultural lands.
I.9 Irrigation projects.
I.10 Agricultural domain of national interest.
I.11 Sites and landscapes.
I.12 Vegetation map.
I.13 Main rivers.
I.14 Current natural areas.
I.15 Natural domain of national interest.
I.16 Protected natural reserves and grottos.
I.17 The coastline, a tight space.
I.18 The coastline, fragile assets.
I.19 Geology.
I.20 Vulnerability of sedimentary areas.
I.21 Intensity of lineaments.
I.22 Main faults.
I.23 Map of water resource vulnerability.
I.24 Flood risk.
I.25 Landslide risk.
I.26 Seismic risk.
I.27 Desertification risk.

CHALLENGES OF THE FUTURE

II.1 Percentage of households living below the absolute poverty level (314 USD
per household per month) per Caza, based on the ESFF study of 2002.
II.2 Distribution of monthly income of Lebanese households in US$ in 8
categories based on the USJ study of 2001.
II.3 Distribution of Lebanese households in function of their income in 1997 and
in 2001.
II.4 Population growth in Lebanon between 1931 and 1997.
II.5 Urban pressure.

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THE PERSPECTIVES OF THE NATIONAL PHYSICAL MASTER PLAN

IV.1 Urban structure principle.

IV.2 Economic development principles.
IV.3 Tourism development principle.
IV.4 Principles of transportation of goods.
IV.5 Principles for defining road network.
IV.6 Principle for public urban transport.
IV.7 The four dominant land uses.
IV.8 Principles for the growth of agglomerations.
IV.9 Central agglomeration, management stakes.
IV.10 The agglomeration of Tripoli, principles for the development of the urban
area.
IV.11 The agglomeration of Saida, stakes of urban development.
IV.12 The agglomeration of Zahle, stakes of urban development.
IV.13 The agglomeration of Baalbeck, stakes of urban development.
IV.14 The agglomeration of Nabatiyeh, principles of urban development.
IV.15 The agglomeration of Sour, principles of urban development.
IV.16 Green and blue sections.
IV.17 Principles of making good of the coastline.
IV.18 The priority projects of dams and lakes.
IV.19 The condition of irrigation projects.
IV.20 Areas to be excluded from quarrying activities.
IV.21 The priorities in the actual sewage master plan.
IV.22 Guidelines for excluding areas from sanitary landfills.

PRINCIPLES OF LAND USE

V.1 Urban zones foreseen by the NPMPLT.

V.2 Major agricultural areas of national interest foreseen by the NPMPLT.
V.3 Mixed rural areas foreseen by NPMPLT.
V.4 Natural areas of national interest foreseen by NPMPLT.
V.5 Sites with especial assets foreseen by NPMPLT.
V.6 Vulnerable areas taken into consideration by the NPMPLT.

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The decree-law 5/77 dated January 31, 1977, creates

and sets the duties of the Council for Development &
Reconstruction (CDR). Article 3 of this Decree–Law
requires CDR to establish “the general framework for
urban planning orientations” in Lebanon and submit it
to the Council of Ministers for approval.

Based on this legislative arrangement, the Government

has made CDR in charge of elaborating, not only the
framework for urban planning policy, but also a
physical Master Plan that will constitute the basis for
urban planning policy. The plan will also serve as a
guideline for all stakeholders participating in the
national and land use development, starting with
public bodies, administrations and autonomous
offices.

The recommendations of this study for the urban

planning sector, as decreed by the Council of
Ministers, will be imposed, among others, on local
urban planning master plans that will be elaborated or
reviewed afterwards. In fact, Article 4 of Decree-Law
69/83, dated September 22, 1983 and related to Urban
Planning, has foreseen that these local master plans
should be elaborated “in the framework of a national
land use master plan”.

This conformity of local plans would be accomplished

progressively. The plans that are in force will continue
to be in use, until they are reviewed; after which, they
will be redesigned in accordance with the “guidelines
of urban planning” that were defined by the
Government, and for which the present National
Physical Master Plan provides the philosophy and the
general consistency.

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INTRODUCTION

BASICS OF THE LAND USE MASTER PLAN

National land, a collective heritage

The national territory is the collective heritage of the Lebanese people. Every generation
has thus the duty to transmit it, in its entire wealth, to future generations, after using it
rationally and developing it in a way that would not affect its character or its potential.

It is the duty of the State to define national policies and adopt means to protect the
national territory, preserve its fundamental characteristics, secure the permanence of its
natural exploited wealth, as well as to promote a harmonious and sustainable economic
and social development.

Citizens and local collectivities have the duty to use the territory in a respectful,
economic, intelligent and reasonable manner, within a spirit of nationalism and
continuously being conscious and accounting for national imperatives and the judgment
of future generations.

It is within this spirit that the National Physical Master Plan (NPMP) defines the
principles of developments for various regions as well as the basics of the usage of
territory for all areas. It also proposes facilities and sites of planned activities, specifying
their objectives, dimensions and locations.

Organization of living and working in a small country

In an article dated august 21, 1945, the Lebanese philosopher Michel Chiha had written:
“In our country, with lack of precaution, we risk to be more and more cramped… Here, it
is important to remember that all we have is some ten thousand square kilometers…
Whether it is the Beqaa valley or the coastal zone, North or South, or even the historical
range of our ancient coastal cities, we should get organized so that nothing gets ignored,
in order to maintain the land heritage, of which geography and history have given us our
share… One of the Lebanese Government concerns should be issues such as population
density and land use. We can turn Lebanon not only into a welcoming host country, but
also encompassing all its children. This implies then establishing a special section of the
political and administrative activity, or even a permanent institution that works
continuously on data collection, project planning and project analysis…”.

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At the time when these words were written, Lebanon’s population was only one million
people; today, there are about four million people. Thus, the necessity for the Lebanese
people to organize their “slightly more than ten thousand square kilometers” 1 is much
more vital.

It is always necessary to remember that Lebanon is amongst the ten most densely
populated countries in the world. This has a significant impact on the use of its non-
renewable resources, whether it is its coastal areas, its landscapes or its natural as well as
constructed heritage.

Therefore, issues of civic responsibility and respect of collective rules and regulations
become of particular importance, evolving and growing with the growth of the
population.

The Lebanese people must take into consideration the change in scale resulting from the
transition from a country of one million inhabitants during the independence to a country
of four million inhabitants in the year 2000, living in the same area, and expected to
exceed a number of five millions in two or three decades.

The conservation of the quality of life specific to Lebanon depends on such

consciousness.

A scheme for a greater freedom of choice and action

Freedom in Lebanon has such a distinguished place that some associate it with the air that
the Lebanese breath. Freedom probably represents the main component in what
constitutes the “quality of life” that distinguishes the Lebanese society. Nevertheless, it is
this freedom that is declining in all domains: freedom of belief, opinion, expression,
traditions, economics, free enterprise, independence and national sovereignty…

Lebanese land-use management has to encourage all forms of freedom by broadening the
choices of housing and investment for all the country, in the frame of a civic rather than
constrained project.

The first enemy of freedom is anarchy. Some people’s freedom can be diminished by
isolated non-civic behaviors and acts. Therefore, a minimum of order and a minimum of
directives and regulations are necessary to organize collective life. Such regulations
should be as simple as possible, but at the same time very essential, particularly in a small
country as densely populated as Lebanon.

1
It is remarkable that an intellectual with liberal aspirations like Michel Chiha had thought about a
planning institution, responsible for “continuous projects and statistics”, a mission entrusted first to the
Ministry of Planning, then to the Council for Development and Reconstruction.
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The second enemy of freedom consists of barriers and partitioning. Lebanon has marked
in its Constitution its commitment to free economy, but more efforts are necessary in
order to achieve it. Effectively, an open economy is free of all kinds of partitions and
obstacles to free competition. The National Physical Master Plan should open the regions
to one another and promote trade, set up of companies, as well as free movement of all
goods in the entire territory.

There was a time when most Lebanese regions were open to Lebanese people of all
origins. That was a time where people spent their holidays in any village of their choice;
a time when retired persons used to live in a village of their choice, even if they were not
originally from that village; a time when employee assignments, in public as well as
private sectors, used to have them relocate to any other part of the country, without it
being an issue.

It would be beneficial to return to that model of integration, by giving the Lebanese

people the freedom to choose their place of residence, as mentioned in the Lebanese
Constitution.

This requires voluntary actions to open the regions to one another to revitalize them
economically, socially and culturally, in order to serve inhabitants of the most deprived
regions, which constitute today’s most “closed” regions.

It is also in Lebanon’s interest to widen the range of choices offered to national, Arab or
foreign productive investments (in terms of setting up companies) on the territory. It is
the national, as well as, the economic and social interests that call for this. This
diversification of choices is done through the valorization of all cities and regions of the
country, in order to de-concentrate investments, and through a series of convergent
actions that strive for an “open territory”.

Objectives of the Land management policy

There is a strong consensus within the Lebanese society as far as land management policy
objectives are concerned. This consensus is developed around common objectives and
values, part of which is written in the Constitution.

Thus, this land management policy must reinforce:

− The unity of the country (a constitutional principle);

− Equitable development of regions (a constitutional principle);
− Optimal and sustainable use of natural resources, particularly water resources;
− Decrease of public debts and expenses;
− Improvement of productivity and economic growth;

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− A better balance in external exchange (trade);

− Social development and improvement in quality of life;
− Protection of environment;
− Conservation of heritage…

These objectives set the outline of an “ideal” future that is easy to imagine: a prosperous
and united Lebanon that respects and properly uses its resources and its heritage,
rationalizes its public expenditures and ensures collective services of high quality.

The National Physical Master Plan follows the above-mentioned objectives, taking into
consideration the realities of today and the challenges of the future. From this
confrontation between hopes and reality emerges 3 basic choices that the plan bases itself
on:

• Unity of the country

• Balanced development
• Rationalization of uses of resources

− Land management should effectively promote unity of the country, and should
promote the economy for the benefit of society. This promotion is a major
necessity in order to deal with economic and social challenges that the country is
facing and will face.

− Land management should lead to alleviate the disparities of development between

regions by implementing a modern and objective perception of a fair and
equitable development principle.

− Land management should seek a rational use of the limited resources, specifically
natural resources and public funds.

These 3 basic choices govern the entire perspectives adopted on the spatial level, whether
it is the specification of soil vocations, the proposed urban structure, the development
projects for various regions, the orientations in the field of public transport and facilities,
the management of urban planning and urban development, and natural zones or heritage
administration.

The current report describes in details the approach that has led to the adopted choices
and specifies the emerged orientations. This document is therefore a major component of
the National Land Use Master Plan, as are the attached maps.

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Table 1: Lebanon: some key data

Year
Resident population 1997 4,005,000
Number of buildings 1996 520,000
Number of dwellings 1996 1,000,000
Number of companies 1996 200,000
% of dwellings in the Central Urban Area 1996 42 %
% of dwellings in 9 other large agglomerations 1996 21 %
% of dwellings in the rest of the country 1996 37 %
Road network length 2000 Km: 22,000
Beirut Airport terminal capacity 2003 Millions of passengers /
year: 6
Beirut Airport runways capacity 2003 Millions of passengers /
year: 16
Number of commercial ports 2003 5
Total merchandise in Port of Beirut 2001 Tons: 5,000,000
Total merchandise in Port of Tripoli 2001 Tons: 700,000
Number of industrial ports 2003 7
Number of fishing harbors and marinas 2003 32
Length of the footprint of the old railway 2003 Km: 400
Number of electric power plants 2003 30
Electric power plants nominal capacity 2003 MW: 2,300
Electric energy need 2002 MW: 1,700
Electric energy production 2001 GWH: 9,437
Installed fix telephone lines 2001 Primary pairs: 1,730,000
Hydraulic structures 2001 29 + 1 dam
Water reservoirs storage capacity 2001 Mm3: 251 of which 200 on
Litani
Operational domestic water treatment plants 2002 12
3
Water treated in plants before distribution 2002 Mm / year: 200
Distributed water by simple chlorination 2002 Mm3 / year: 100 to 200
Number of building wells 1996 45,000
Number of protected sites / monuments (DGA) 2002 500
Number of sites inscribed as UNESCO 2002 6
heritage

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CHAPTER I

UNCONTESTED PHYSICAL FEATURES

The basic choices adopted in the National Physical Master Plan of the Lebanese
Territories (NPMPLT) are the result of a coherent analysis of two imperatives:

− Physical data (constraints and advantages) that characterize the Lebanese

territory; and
− Challenges of the future, in terms of economic and social perspectives.

The present chapter explains the imperatives followed by physical features.

I.1 THE SIZE OF LEBANON AND ITS GEOGRAPHIC LOCATION

The first unavoidable feature or reality of Lebanon is its small surface area. With less
than 11000 km2, it is the second smallest country in the Middle East and the Arab
World (after Bahrain). Its territory represents 1 / 1000th that of large countries such as
the USA or Canada and 1 / 100th that of Egypt.

Despite the fact that it is densely populated1, it is ranked 125th worldwide for its
populations, with four million inhabitants2.

Its well-known and exploited natural resources consist practically of water resources,
soil and vegetation, as well as climate and landscapes.

The small size of the country, its population density and the modesty of its natural
resources generate a series of perennial consequences, the most important being the
vital necessity for Lebanon to be open to the whole world in order to import resources
and consumption goods on one hand, and export goods and services, on the other.

This tendency of openness to the outside world, an objective to every small country, is
an old reality for Lebanon, where it has taken different shapes with time: trade with
cities of the Mediterranean basin, business with Egypt and Greece, demographic
expansion towards fertile hinterlands, and exchanges with cities of Syria, Palestine,
Iraq and the Gulf States. It has also led to numerous emigrations since the mid-19th

1
Among countries of more than one million people, Lebanon comes on the 11th position as far as
population density is concerned (number of inhabitants per km2).
2
Source: Central Administration for Statistics (CAS), 1997
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century that has resulted in a large Diaspora throughout the entire planet… This
openness of the country has been facilitated by its geographic location, at the
threshold of Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

The sea and the air connect Lebanon with the entire world. On the other hand, its
terrestrial pathways go necessarily across Syria, ever since the closure of the southern
border in 1948.

Intense trade, economic dynamism as well as cultural activities highlight Lebanon’s

international openness.

In the future, this openness will progressively increase because of an inexorable

movement of globalization and collapse of custom barriers, integration of local
economies into regional and international economies, as well as decrease of
transportation costs for people and goods.

This openness as well as recent emigration flows lead, among other things, to
important financial flows coming from abroad in the form of deposits in the Lebanese
banks.

One of the major challenges for Lebanon is to maintain control over capitals, without
losing its interior productive capacity. This balance is hard to maintain while external
income (when spent to finance local consumption) has the side effect of raising
internal prices and production costs, reducing local products competitiveness and
hindering exportation. The solution resides probably in the capacity of Lebanon to re-
orient the surplus of these incomes more in productive investments and less in
consumption.

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Lebanon in the World and the Middle East

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I.2 TOPOGRAPHY, AN IMMUTABLE FACT

Topography is an unavoidable, distinguished and at the same time restricting feature

of Lebanon. The mountains of Lebanon have shaped its climate, water resources,
landscapes and extremely rich biodiversity. They had always played a decisive role in
the history of its settlements and still are to date.

A place to live: It has always been difficult in Lebanon to settle beyond an elevation
of 1500 meters, and all kinds of permanent dwellings are absent beyond 2000 meters.
Settlement densities in Lebanon will remain in disparity according to elevation, with
consecutive levels roughly at 400 meters, 1000 meters and 1500 meters. Topography
generates more or less steep slopes as well: constructions rarely set up on slopes
higher than 30%, and practically never on slopes higher than 40%.

Agriculture: Topography is a determining factor – besides nature of soils, irrigation

and water availability – for possible crop types and agricultural techniques. Elevation
levels avail Lebanon of the possibility to develop an extremely diverse agriculture,
from quasi-tropical produce in coastal plains up to orchards in high altitude, with a
full range of possible intermediary products in between. Physical configurations of
terrains (vast plains, narrow plains, basin, slopes, etc.) determine the possibilities for
automation (mechanization) and industrial and semi-industrial exploitation.

Biodiversity: Elevation levels – together with slope exposure – provide Lebanon with
exceptional biodiverse conditions that are a great richness not only for the country,
but also to humanity. Preservation and protection of biodiversity is in fact an essential
equilibrium for life and nature, as well as for research projects, especially in the
medical field.

Landscapes: Topography has granted Lebanon its magnificent landscapes (mountains,

valleys, cirques, plains, etc.), which constitute a main element of its touristic potential
and its distinguishing quality of life. Besides these great scenes of landscape, there are
other features created due to geomorphological accidents (cliffs, peaks, canyons, etc.)
that are also outstanding and impressive.

Compartments: Topography splits the territory into geomorphological regions,

separated by valleys and mountains. It enhances, thus, diversity of the environment,
but does constitute physical obstacles to the regions at the same time.

Constraints and infrastructures: Topography imposes its constraints on construction

and infrastructure. Contraventions have a high cost and inflict eyesores, such as road
embankment fills and dumping or multi-level quarries of high altitude, on the openly
visible landscapes.

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Importance of Relief and Geomorphology

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Figure I.5: Population Densities per Morphological Zones

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I.3 FAVORABLE AREAS FOR AGRICULTURE

One of the immutable realities of Lebanon is its agricultural resources, developed

successively by thousands of generations in concordance with continuously advanced
techniques.

Until the mid-19th century, agriculture techniques remained rudimentary, and soil
productivity was hardly enough to feed a basically rural and deprived population.
Peasants in Lebanon have cultivated every land they could (except those necessitating
efforts out of reach of men and animals), including lands with poor productivity and
lands located on steep slopes. During the 20th century, the agricultural sector faced
successive moments of crises, mainly due to decrease of produce values (prices),
whether it is natural silk, wheat or more recently apple produce.

Today, techniques have improved, productivity has increased, but once again
Lebanese agricultural production suffers from international competition, in front of
which, it is facing a series of handicaps: high cost of imported inputs, undersized
exploitations, high prices of land, disorganization of production and marketing, weak
in innovative research, modesty of agricultural training and extension, poor irrigation
techniques, lack of irrigation water in some regions, etc.

In fact, the portion of agriculture and livestock farming in Lebanon’s GDP barely
exceeds 6 % (national accounting, 1997), which is equivalent in global value to
slightly more than US$ 1 billion. The output per hectare is around US$ 3000.

But current difficulties should not lead to condemning any promising future for the
agricultural sector in Lebanon. Future generations will surely need agricultural lands
for their economy and for their own consumption.

Lebanon is endowed with a significant capital of valuable lands for agriculture.

Agricultural value of lands depends on the nature of soils, depth, content of organic
material, acidity, water-retaining capacity, landslide and erosion hazards exposure and
slope – which determine how easy soils are cultivated with quasi-industrial
techniques.

Almost half of Lebanon’s total surface could be cultivated, although with different
productivity. The country’s real wealth resides in some large entities, representing
altogether around one third of its total surface.

The most productive and important entities have been plotted on maps. They represent
practically all the plains (Beqaa, Akkar, Koura, coastal plains, Sour plain, Sarafand,
Saida, Marjayoun plain, etc.); higher Shouf fertile lands, corridors of Hasbaya and
Rachaya, basin sites of South Lebanon and orchard levels of Mount Lebanon.

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Major Agricultural Domain Mapping Method

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Figure 1.10: Agricultural Domain of National Interest

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I.4 DISTINGUISHED NATURAL AREAS AND LANDSCAPES

Topography, waterways and climatic zones have constituted massive landscapes that
form Lebanon’s identity. They have played a determining role for the biodiversity that
characterizes the country and created extraordinary sites as per aspect and scarcity.

Ecological heritage

Lebanon is characterized by its large diversity of ecosystems, due to its variety of

environmental conditions (climate, elevation, slope, sun exposure, soil, etc.). A small
country such as Lebanon is lucky to have such a large diversity of fauna and flora.

Biodiversity conservation is a major issue for the protection and survival of every
species, because of interrelations between ecosystems (no isolated system can survive
indefinitely). Mankind benefits from this, whether directly through a better
environment quality and nature based tourist activities or indirectly through scientific
use of fauna and flora species in medical and pharmaceutical research.

Pollution and sudden ruptures in the environment therefore threaten the ecosystem
biodiversity in Lebanon. Hence, it becomes more vital and urgent to restore natural
continuities between the different ecosystems by creating a true national ecological
network.

Major landscapes in Lebanon

Landscapes are an important factor of tourist attraction in Lebanon and to the quality
of life. They represent therefore an economic as well as a social asset.

Among the most important landscapes of Lebanon, some are visible with all its
grandeur from a distance: peaks (Qornet es-Saouda, Sannine, Barouk, Hermon),
agricultural large plains (Beqaa, Akkar, Koura, etc.), great deep valleys (Abou
Moussa, Qadisha, Ibrahim, Litani at Khardali, etc.), picturesque valleys (Jaouz, el-
Kalb, Beirut, Barouk – Bisri – Awali, Aassi, Hasbani, etc.), important bays (Jounieh),
forests of the North and pine forests of the Cazas of Kesrwan, Baabda, Matn and
Jezzine, hills of the South, Qaraoun lake.

Others are visible from a closer range: outstanding coastal sites (Salinas of Enfeh, Ras
ech-Shaqaa, Grotte aux Pigeons, Ramlet el Bayda, Damour plain, gorges and mouth
of Litani, seashore of Sour, cliffs of Bayyada and Naqoura), Cedar forests (Sir, Jaje,
Becharre, Tannourine, Laqlouq, Falougha, Barouk, Chouf), smaller valleys and
interior plains (Kfarhalda, Safa, Qammouaa...), etc.

Main landscapes should be a part of a general policy. In some cases, these big
landscapes could be turned into “regional natural reserves” (environmentally friendly

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regions) to be managed and preserved, and economically developed within a long-

term plan of action.

Geologic heritage

Moreover, Lebanon has a remarkable geological heritage of karst formations and

valuable fossil deposits.

Cenomanien fossil deposits (- 100 million years) of Jbayl offer numerous relics of
significant conservation of fishes and invertebrates of international scientific interest.
There are, as well, other fossil deposits of minor importance.

Karst morphology is rich and diverse: striated sculpture relief of Feytroun, artesian
springs of Afqa, or underground rivers and grottos such as Jeita or Antelias. There are
many more amazing sites: Tourza folds, Faqra natural bridge, Balaa gorge, Jeita
grotto, etc.

These sites must be subject to gradual measures of protection, having a primary

perimeter (severe protection) and secondary perimeter (prospect preservation, etc).

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Figure 1.11: Sites and Landscapes

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Methodology for Mapping Areas of Natural Vocation

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Figure 1.15: Natural Domain of National Interest

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Protected natural sites in 2003

Present protected natural sites are composed of 7 categories:

1- Sites protected by Decree no 343 dated March 28, 1942 (amended by Decree no
836 of 09/01/50), based on the Law of July 8, 1939 related to the protection of natural
landscapes and sites. 8 sites are protected by this decree: Becharre Cedars, Deir el-
Qalaa, Bois de Boulogne, Sindiane el-Mrouj, Horsh Beirut, Yammouneh lake, natural
bridge of Nabaa el-Laban and the antique ruins of Baalbeck. Protection consists of a
zoning regulation on construction rights as well as prospect regulations.

2- Sites protected by the Laws voted by the Parliament between 1992 and 1999 in the
framework of “Mahmiyyat” (protected natural reserves). There are 7 sites protected by
these laws: Machaa’ Horsh Ehden; Palm Island – Ramkine – Sanai; Chouf cedars;
Coast of Tyr; Tannourine cedars; Bentaël; Yammouneh. Altogether, they represent a
surface area of around 200 km2 , that is roughly 2 % of the Lebanese territory. The
most important of them is that of Chouf, with a surface area of around 160 km2. In
general, these sites are located on M’shaa lands, public domain or State owned lands,
and protection consists of forbidding construction, quarries, cutting of trees and
grazing.

3- Sites protected by Decisions from the Ministry of Environment (MoE), based on

the law on natural sceneries and sites of 1939, Decree 9501 dated November 7, 1996
and Article 12 of Law 667 dated December 29, 1997. Sites protected by these
decisions are: first, river beds (Nahr Ibrahim; Nahr Jaouz; Nahr el-Kalb and its
tributaries Sannine-Salib-Msann; Nahr ed-Damour and all its tributaries starting from
Nabaa es-Safa; Nahr Beirut and its tributaries in both valleys; Nahr Awali – including
Barouk and Bisri; Nahr Aarqa and its tributaries; Nahr el-Aassi); second, forests
located mainly in Chouf (Aïn el Haour, Darayya, Debbiyeh, Bourjeïn, Sheikh Osman,
Deïr Moukhalles, Aïn ou Zayn, Dalhoun, Wadi al-Mal, Kafra, Wadi Aghmid, Wadi
Aïn Baal); then the highland site of Jabal Makmel with its peak Qornet es-Saouda
starting from 2400 m up until the peak and finally a series of remarkable natural sites
(Karm Shbat, valley of Qadisha, Qammouaa plateau, valley of Qaraqir, Baatara
gorge). River protection consists in general of a 1000 m wide zone following the
centerline of the river, within which all activities are subject to MoE authorization.
This zone extends to 3000 m for the authorization of quarries. The perimeter of
protection of forests forbids construction, quarries, cutting of trees and grazing.

4- Sites protected by Decisions from the Ministry of Agriculture prior to 1996 law on
forested zones: protected natural zones on public lands and M’shaas of Maasser esh-
Chouf, Barouk, Aïn Zhalta and Aïn Dara in 1991, protected marine area of Batroun in
1991, protected zone of Kherbet Silm – Zaïdani – Wadi el-Hajair (caza of Bent Jbayl)
in 1992, and protected zone of Kfar Zabad (caza of Zahle) in 1992. Protection of these
zones is limited to forbidding cutting of trees and camping, and includes programs for
reforestation, preservation and management of these zones.

5- Sites protected by Decisions from the Ministry of Agriculture prior to 1996 law
based on Law 558, dated July 24, 1996, protecting coniferous woods and forests on

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the M’shaa and public properties. Sites protected by these decisions are: Bezbina
(Akkar), Qammouaa (Akkar), Soueyssa (Hermel), Cedars (Besharre), Tannourine,
Hadath el Jebbe, Jaje, Karm Shbat (Akkar), Qnat, Merbyn Wadi Jhannam, Qariet es-
Safina (Akkar), Jurd en-Njas – Jabal el-Arb’ine – Danniyeh, Aïn Qlaïlat – Karm el-
Mahr, Qornet el-Kaïf, Mashaa, Shalout, Danniyeh (North), and Bkassine-Jezzine
(Jezzine). Protection consists of preserving forests from construction, cutting of trees,
grazing, excavations, camping, etc. within a radius of 500 m.

6- Sites protected by Decrees related to urban planning. These decrees are proposed
by the General Directorate of Urban Planning (GDUP) after notification by the Higher
Council for Urban Planning (HCUP). Protection consists of severe regulations on
construction, in the frame of a land use master plan or a specific urban planning
document. Most of these general plans, especially those decreed recently, stipulate
zones with limited constructability. Among the specific decrees, the decree for the
protection of Nahr Damour valley is worth mentioning.

7- Natural sites protected by registration on the World Heritage record of

UNESCO: Valley of Qadisha and Cedars of Besharre, both registered in 1998. This
registration does add to the protection provided by the local legislation. It has a moral
commitment and motivates creation of plans for protecting and benefiting from these
zones.

Unprotected or Poorly Protected Natural Sites

Many sites, with insufficient protection, could be integrated in the “Mahmiyyat”

regime. For example, Karm Shbat and Qammouaa. Other remarkable sites, such as
Ras Shaqaa, are deprived of any protection and should be integrated in the
“Mahmiyyat” category.

Swamp sites should be protected as well under the Ramsar Convention, which is
ratified by Lebanon. Aammiq marshes (protected at present by the owners of the site)
and Ras el-Aïn are future sites to be included under this convention.

Other decisions of protection of Cedar, Juniper, Cyprus and Oak forests of M’shaas
and public properties (Law 558 dated July 24, 1996) could be considered as well,
when delimitation on cadastral plans is completed.

It is also necessary to protect remarkable geologic heritage, particularly grottos, caves,

fossil fields, natural bridges, etc.

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Figure 1.16: Protected Natural Reserves and Grottos

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I.5 THE LEBANESE COASTAL ZONE: POTENTIAL AND

CHARACTERISTICS

The Lebanese coastal zone, in its scientific meaning, comprises almost one third of
the territory, including the west side of Mount-Lebanon between 0 and 800 meters in
altitude, as well as vast zones of North and South Lebanon. But in the context of this
study, it is only a narrow sea-land corridor with an altitude between 0 and 50 m.

A narrow coastal plain characterizes this zone, except in the North and South. The
coastline is excessively cut and is marked with a series of rocky promontories (Ras),
the most important of which is Ras Beirut. Linear parts of the coastline are divided
between sandy or pebbly beaches and rocky micro-cliffs. Dune ecosystems have
nearly disappeared, except in the south of Sour.

The seashore is subject to local massive erosion, due to strong winter storms. This
type of hazard is increased because of sand dredging during the war period and
especially because of sediment-load decrease subsequent to the construction of
Assouane dam. Recent land reclamations (Northern coast of Beirut, airport new
runway in the sea) and sand dredging activities are major causes of coastal
hydrodynamic modifications.

Coastal zone is considered to be the richest but at the same time the most endangered
area of Lebanon. The majority of industrial, commercial and financial activities of the
country as well as the largest cities are concentrated in this area. In a corridor of 500
meters wide along the coastline, 40 % of the surface is absorbed by urbanization and
41 % by agricultural uses, while 19 % remain natural areas (beaches, dunes, etc.). The
main industries are located along the coast for easier and a better supply of raw
material (including oil through ad hoc terminals) and a faster export of their products
to major cities.

However, agricultural and natural zones are not absent in the coastal area. The largest
agricultural areas are the southern plain from Saïda to Naqoura, the Akkar plain and
the valley of Abou Ali (Koura). As for the most important natural features, these are
located between Batroun and Jounieh on one hand, and Sour and Naqoura on the
other. Moreover, there are other relatively smaller areas in the hinterlands of Saïda
and Damour.

These areas, natural or agricultural, are exposed to permanent pressure of urban

sprawl, due to reallocation of rural zones or dense extensions of cities.

Lands located along the seashore are in extremely high demand for their touristic
importance and consequently for the output they can generate through classical real
estate operations or tourist and seaside resorts. This pressure results in reclamation
activities, marina projects for leisure and other maritime public domain violations3.

3
Seafront public domain is defined in Lebanese legislation by the order 144/a dated 10 June, 1925 as
being the shore up to a distance where winter tides can reach, as well as sandy and pebble beaches.
Ponds and salty water marshes linked to the sea are also a part of the public domain.
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I.6 WATER RESOURCES AND MAJOR WATER VULNERABLE AREAS

A Vital Resource

Despite Lebanon’s geographic location in the Middle East, its water resources provide
it with a comparative advantage vis-à-vis the surrounding Arab countries. Water
management, which represents a major priority for the country, seeks to exploit a
maximum of water resources capacity in a sustainable way. Lebanon is determined to
improve the quality of domestic water by reducing the pollution of water resources to
decrease risks on health.

Although rainfall and river flows had previously been measured until the mid 1970’s,
available water balance and water exploitation data is unreliable. The measurements
have partially been resumed few years ago; however, data on ground water is limited.
Water Authorities may have some records on the amount of ground water used for
domestic supply from public wells. However, some 45,000 private wells serving
buildings have been reported in 1996 for which no data is available. The same applies
to uncontrolled irrigation wells spread throughout the country.

Table 2: Components of Water Balance in Lebanon

Components Average annual volume (Mm3)
Input: Rainfall + Snow + 9 300 4
Losses from evapo-transpiration - 4 500 5
Surface flow in streams (springs excluded) - 1 800 6
Groundwater - 3 000 7
− Losses outside the national boundaries, into
the sea and to neighboring countries: 570
Mm3
− Un-exploitable groundwater and sea springs:
600 Mm3
− Natural springs flow: 1 145 Mm3
− Stored and pumped amounts for domestic
and irrigation uses: 685 Mm3
Source: Mudallal (1989)

4
Annual inputs are estimated according to different sources between 8600 and 9700 Mm3, including
snowmelt water quantity estimated to around 1000 Mm3.
5
Evaporation and evapo-transpiration losses are estimated to 45-50 % of inputs according to different
sources.
6
The part of surface water from direct precipitation and snowmelt (springs excluded) is estimated
between 1400 and 2200 Mm3 according to different sources.
7
The part of groundwater is estimated between 2000 and 3000 Mm3.
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Resources Prone to Pollution

Provision of water of adequate quality is quite delicate in Lebanon, considering the

geological specificities, which often facilitate pollutants infiltration into water tables
and streams. Lebanese aquifer-bearing formations are exceptionally extensive and are
generally located underneath extremely permeable and karst formations. These
formations have great storage capacities due to intense fractures, fissures and karst
networks. Water in these layers often reappears as surface water in the form of
springs.

The fractures and karst networks facilitate point and non-point sources pollutants to
percolate and infiltrate deep into the ground, thus making groundwater more prone to
pollution. Pollutants infiltrated into the ground may reach groundwater within several
hours and reappear in the springs and wells used for domestic consumption.

Human activities are likely to generate pollutants that can cause serious consequences
on ground water quality. Toxic materials, even if used in small doses, can turn water
inconsumable for long periods; while human and animal wastes (domestic
wastewater) can cause serious illnesses to users.

Areas of major groundwater-pollution risks had been identified and plotted on maps
in the frame of the NPMPLT. Some are within areas already built or cultivated and
others are within areas of natural zones. It is crucial to develop a preventive and
curative policy for managing pollution of groundwater. Implementing pollution
prevention measures will prove less costly on health as well as on public and private
finances.

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Methodology for Mapping Water Resources Vulnerability

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Figure 1.23: Map of Water Resource Vulnerability

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I.7 AREAS PRONE TO NATURAL HAZARDS

Natural hazards in Lebanon expose some of the population and their activities, their
resources and Lebanon’s heritage to serious risks. Some of these natural hazards have
been identified.

It is essential to take into account the risks emerging from these hazards in any urban
planning and land management approach, to help minimize catastrophic consequences
that a natural disaster may often generate.

Natural hazards are numerous: landslides, floods and torrential rain events,
desertification, soil erosion, forest fires, earthquakes, tidal waves, etc.

In a land management approach, it is important to deliberate on two of the above-

mentioned hazards, floods and landslides, which occur in cycles or short frequencies
(year and decade). Most of the time, it is possible to avoid their catastrophic effects by
adopting adequate regulations.

Floods

Torrential floods prone areas have been identified by cross analysis of streams and
irrigation channels (flood risk), rock nature and structure in riverbeds (degree of
permeability), topography of riverbeds (basin effect), and previously observed events,
including those of 2003.

A map for flood prone areas has been produced. It corresponds to areas reported to be
at flood risk by several resident generations. These areas are Central Beqaa, plains of
Aassi, Wadi Khaled, Akkar and Koura, coastal plains of Sour, Qasmiyeh, Saida and
Damour, coastal zone of Chekka, Batroun and Khaldeh, etc.. In North Lebanon people
reported that Nahr Abou Ali experienced exceptionally violent torrential floods.

While wisdom of our ancestors had led people to avoid building in flood prone
agricultural plains, modern time negligence has pushed people to build parts of cities
in such zones. Losses generated from a single flood are far more than virtual losses of
the value of land that would have resulted from banning their construction.

In the majority of these regions, floods are the result of soil saturation – usually barely
permeable – that leads water level to rise. In some areas, however, they are due to
torrential floods of rivers (Qadisha – Abou Ali). In other areas (coastal plains), sea
storms create huge tides that “invade” lands and accentuate floods caused by river
saturations and rainfall.

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Landslides

Landslide hazards prone areas have been identified by crossing data related to
unstable rock constitution zones, steep slope (>40 %), previous events marked on the
geology maps, faults and more recent landslide events.

A map for landslide prone areas has been produced. High risk zones are those with
steep stream basins of Nahr Abou Moussa, Nahr Qadisha, Nahr el-Jaouz, Nahr
Ibrahim, Nahr Kalb, etc. High risk zones also include places with steep slopes often
located along faults, especially those of Yammounneh (Jbab el-Homr, Yammounneh
and west side of West Beqaa) and Wadi et-Taym, but also Ras Shaqaa in the caza of
Batroun. The same degree of risk characterizes areas of less steeper slopes, such as
the plain of Boqayaa at Wadi Khaled or west side of Koura.

This is surely not an exhaustive inventory. Other areas omitted here for scale reasons
(the surface area of these zones were too small to be integrated in the present
NPMPLT) should be considered in local urban planning plans.

Other natural hazards

NPMPLT takes into account other risks as well, without however making any specific
recommendations of urban planning regulations.

Desertification hazard threatens the arid regions of the Northeast (Hermel and Aassi
regions) that are already suffering from economical and social hardships. This threat
requires control on urbanization rate, careful management of irrigation and grazing, as
well as reforestation efforts. This region should benefit from a development policy,
based more on quality (production and service) than quantity improvements. Urban
pressure should be oriented, if possible, towards southern agglomerations, Baalbeck
and Zahle-Chtaura.

Seismic hazard is omnipresent in every region of Lebanon as a result of its

geographical position over two tectonics plates (represented by the two mountain
ranges of Lebanon and Anti-Lebanon) that slide facing each other and induce
readjustment faults, such as the Roum fault. Hazards are maximal around active
faults, but more or less strong tremors could threaten the entire country. Anti-seismic
construction regulations are the best solutions to diminish damages and losses. Special
attention should be given on Jbab el-Homr, Minyeh, Becharre, Chekka, Ras Chaqaa,
Khaldeh, Damour, Wadi Jezzine, Ayshiyeh, Wadi et-Taym and the western part of
West Beqaa.

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CHAPTER II

CHALLENGES OF THE FUTURE

Although the National Physical Master Plan of the Lebanese Territories (NPMPLT)
takes imperatively into account and profits from the physical features of the country,
its first concern resides in responding to the numerous challenges that Lebanon faces
today and will face in the future.

These challenges include:

− Challenge of economic development

− Challenge of social cohesion
− Demographic challenge
− Challenge of housing
− Challenge of needs: transport, water, wastes, education, health
− Challenge of urban expansion
− Environmental challenge
− Challenge of war and peace in the region

II.1 THE CHALLENGE OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

The question of economic development has been the main concern of the authorities
as well as the entire population since the end of the war. The ambition to see
Lebanon’s “natural role” re-established as a pivotal center and a regional pole collided
with a series of internal as well as external obstacles, and has succeeded only in a few
limited fields (luxury tourism, banking sector, etc.). In parallel, the main exportable
services as well as industry and agriculture face a tough competition.

What perspectives await Lebanon for the coming years? How should the country be
positioned on the regional and international stage? Should Lebanon count on specific
production niches or should it diversify its activities? What are the perspectives of
growth that one can imagine for the future?

II.1.1 New rules in international trade

The new century starts with a major challenge for all the countries of the world,
particularly developing countries: new regulations due to the growing integration of
international trade.

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Lebanon, traditionally open to the outside world, has found itself unprepared for these
new regulations that consist mainly of the elimination of customs barriers and expose
every economic sector of the country to tough world scale competition.

Lebanon has signed, especially with Syria, other Arab countries and the European
Union, many agreements that foresee custom barriers abolition. It is to become a
member of the World Trade Organization (WTO). And yet the country is subject to
important handicaps, in terms of productivity and competitiveness in many sectors
(agriculture, industry and exportable services). Huge efforts are to be made as well in
terms of transparency and free competition on local markets, and efficiency in the
relations between Authorities and economic actors.

II.1.2 Quality assets valorization

In the presence of globalization, economists insist on the issue of “comparative

assets” that distinguish a country from its partners and rivals and allow it to gain
leading positions in certain markets.

Lebanon possesses a number of physical and human comparative advantages in the

Middle East.

Its geographic location between the Mashrek, the Maghreb and Europe, its water
resources, fertile lands, natural landscapes and heritage, and quality of life are
permanent assets that characterize Lebanon for a series of reasons: climate conditions,
hospitality, sea and mountain, etc.

Other important assets are liberal legislation in setting up companies and circulation
of capital, relatively high level of education and qualifications, foreign language
skills, etc.

The Lebanese Diaspora, excessively vast, plays an important role in international

trade networks. The proximity of Lebanon to oil rich countries of the Gulf region
gives an excellent opportunity to gain “Petrodollars” in turn for services and goods,
and in the form of direct investments.

In addition to these assets, infrastructure have been recently completed in order to

host firms, international fairs and exhibitions, luxury tourism, aerial and maritime
transport, etc.

It is based on these assets that Lebanon could be distinguished from its direct rivals
and build such an economy and social relations that will secure development and
prosperity.

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II.1.3 Promising niches and diversification

Economical studies1 showed that the main comparative assets that Lebanon could
exploit for international competition in short and medium terms are based on: tourism
potential, agricultural potential (food products industry) and country’s know-how in
publishing, cultural industry as well as art craft (jewelry). These sectors are, in fact,
those in which Lebanon has gained real experience and potential, and at the same
time, those in which international and regional markets have not been saturated.

Therefore, it is important for Lebanon to bet strongly on these niches. Products of

these fields are much better in the local markets than similar exported ones. They can
even be exported themselves, and contribute hence to the external trade balance of
Lebanon.

Tourism and food product sectors are both closely linked to the land: their primary
asset is landscapes, topography, lands, water, sea, heritage, etc.

Publishing and cultural industries (cinema, television, etc.) are based on an

intellectual and industrial knowledge (know-how). Jewelry lies on art craft skills as
well as developed commercial and distribution networks.

However, should Lebanon renounce to other possible niches in services, industry and
agriculture sectors for which it still lacks enough competitiveness?

Nothing insures that this lack of competitiveness will last on the medium and long
terms. It is possible to think that with a sustainable investment, Lebanon could
provide someday first class education and medical services in the Near East; develop
once again high capacities of information and engineering services for export; and
attract medium-technology industries (electromechanical, machinery tools, electronic
components, manufactured products for building, etc.).

As for agriculture, with a structural re-organization of the sector (land consolidation,

irrigation, preservation, subsidiaries, marketing networks, etc.) Lebanon can acquire
an important status for a number of produces, especially high quality rare products, or
endemic products.

It is essential never to forget that export oriented products constitute only one part of
the economy, though the most strategic and not the most labor demanding one. The
economy lies on an entire set of activities oriented towards hard importable or
exportable products, such as services for persons, local transport, administration, local
trade or construction sectors.

Hence, Lebanon’s economic vision for the future will be based on three principles:

− Activities for which Lebanon possesses undeniable comparative assets:

tourism, food products, printing and publishing, and art craft.

1
Cf. Monitor – Ace for CDR, 2000.
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− Activities for which Lebanon can become once again competitive, by

making significant efforts: high-level services, international transports,
medium technology industries, specific agricultural produces, etc.

− Activities far from any international competition: services for people and
vehicles, local trade, local transport, etc.

The conservation of the diversity of activities is, however, essential for the sustainable
re-establishment of the country’s economy, starting with its external trade. To reach
that goal, Lebanon has no other choice but to increase its production and improve its
competitiveness, by reducing production cost and charges of enterprises and by
investing in advanced technology, and vocational and educational training.

II.1.4 Regional economies facing international competition

With progressive abolition of custom boundaries, economic sectors which were far
from international competition have found themselves in a difficult situation.

Historically, competitive sectors (enterprise services, industry) were always densely

concentrated in Greater Beirut. While peripheral regions were out of competition,
given that a number of agricultural products were protected by customs tax on
imported similar goods.

With the agreements for progressive custom protection abolition, all the Lebanese
regions, including distant ones, will have to face international competition.

For a given city or a region that gradually enters into the sphere of international
competition, there can be three kinds of responses to face this competition:

− The first kind of response is to try integrating the region’s economy into
the economy of Beirut, the center. By improving means of transport, it can
hope for the relocation of certain activities of the capital towards these
regions.

− The second kind of response consists of looking at increasing productivity,

benefiting from local costs, skills and advantages. This is a matter of
modernizing classical activities already rooted in a village or a region.

− The third kind of response consists of identifying and developing products

specific to the village or region, which could have an important and
dominating share in the exported goods. Such products can be totally new
or existing but marginal. Therefore, a city, even a village, can be a main
producer of a specific product in the world (art craft, unique culinary
product, etc.).

Regions and cities usually react differently, and choose to manage economic sectors
by a mixture of the above-mentioned three responses. However, it is the task of the
Management Plan to give all regions of Lebanon the opportunities to find the best
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way to face the challenge of globalization by two major means: a good link with the
center and preservation and valorization of specific potentials of each region.

II.1.5 Macro-economic perspectives

Just like all small countries with open economies, Lebanon is extremely sensitive to
changes that can affect import and export product prices, the latter not being related to
local supply and demand rule, but imposed from the outside.

The general trend for the coming years announces a decline in these prices, because of
globalization perspectives and custom barriers abolition.

This evolution presents a major challenge for the Lebanese economy. The reduction
of prices of imported products threatens local production, and at the same time
increases their consumption.

Several productive sectors will face a progressive risk because of competition. As a

consequence, the major risk would be for the Lebanese production to concentrate in
non-competitive activities (not importable or exportable products and services: private
services, real estate, etc.). Such an evolution would certainly reduce the per capita
income that the Lebanese could have enjoyed from the national production.

In the presence of this challenge, it is crucial to make huge efforts for maintaining the
Lebanese standard of living. The present situation, where income exceeds production
values by 20% (National Accounting, 1997), can not last forever, because this surplus
of income is essentially made up of loans.

A country’s income should correspond in general to its production value. In the

specific case of Lebanon, the adjustment of incomes and production can be done
based on different methods:

− Either Lebanon’s income decreases because there is not enough production

and there is drain of capitals. Imports start decreasing, as well as the prices
of local products; the balance is reached at the lowest level. It is the most
spontaneous adjustment, but the less beneficial realignment. Resumption
of emigration due to recession can be seen. The residents, a less
demanding minority, share available income among themselves. This is a
low level realignment, the cost of which is considerable losses in human
resources.

− Or Lebanon succeeds in increasing its competitiveness in products of

international concurrence (imported or exported goods) in a short period of
time: This is the most difficult but the most advantageous scenario. The
management of this transition phase presents major challenges in this
regard.

The most beneficial perspective would be when a drop in prices of imported products
is achieved progressively, while local production of the same goods concurrently

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gains competitiveness. For this, it is important to work on internal costs (real estate
power, administrative services, etc.) that are still considerably high in Lebanon
compared to other countries of the region or even worldwide.

II.1.6 Evolution of GDP

Lebanon is a country of “medium high” income. According to official estimates, its

GDP is around US$ 17.3 billion (in 2002), that is US$ 4,200 per capita. More than 80
states worldwide surpass Lebanon in terms of GDP per capita, and more than 80
others have lower incomes. Lebanon occupies the 8th position among Arab countries
for this indicator.

It is difficult to predict Lebanon’s GDP growth for 2030, because the present situation
shows major macro-economic disparities, due to high public debts, and because it is
difficult to anticipate conditions of rebalancing.

Considering the two extreme hypotheses for adjustment of income and production
previously mentioned, the following could be observed:

− In the less advantageous case, a GDP growth that could be nil or even
negative in actual terms. The population would stagnate or barely increase
(it could even diminish, for the first time, because of a birth rate reduction
that had occurred once) and, in the end, the GDP could remain close to its
actual level, that is around US$ 17 to 20 billion in 2030. The standard of
living of the Lebanese would be nearly the same as today.

− In the more advantageous case, a considerable GDP growth in actual terms

is observed, even after a difficult phase of correction of actual public
finance crisis. An annual average rate of 5 % is not excluded in view of the
available human and capital resources. In the end, GDP level would reach
roughly US$ 65 billion in 2030. Population could increase enormously to 6
million people and life standard could be 2.4 times higher.

It is possible to narrow this range of extreme cases by considering closer scenarios for
growth:
− On one hand, an annual average growth of 2 %; and
− On the other, a 2003-2007 evolution, based on the forecast adopted by
the Government following Paris II conference in November 2002,
followed by a 2008-2030 evolution marked with an annual growth of
3.5 %.

This leads to a GDP value varying between US$ 30 billion (first scenario) and US$ 50
billion (second scenario) in 2030.

The first scenario (2 %) corresponds to a situation where Lebanese production of

exchangeable products (imported – exported) would not be significantly developed.
With the resumption of emigration that would result, the resident population would

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never exceed 4.5 million people in 2030. GDP per capita would reach then around
US$ 6 500 per year.

The second scenario (Government plan followed by a 3.5 % starting from 2008)
corresponds to a situation where local production would be able to adequately resist to
the competition induced by imported products. Resident population could reach 5.5
million people in 2030 and GDP per capita would be more than US$ 9,000 per year.

Hence, based on the considered hypotheses, GDP per capita should increase most
likely until 2030 from 60 % to 100 %.

This growth will allow future generations to benefit from a considerably better
standard of living. Together with the foreign complementary income, this standard of
living will be equal to what people enjoy today in countries such as Cyprus and
Argentina. But still, Lebanon will remain far from developed countries, today and
definitely in the future.

However, it is important to remember that an important and sustainable growth cannot

be reached without a considerable increase in production and productivity.
Competitive sectors must be developed more than others to achieve a balance in
foreign trade; which could be translated into an evolution of the GDP composition
where the relative shares of “other market services”, like industry and agriculture,
increase significantly in comparison to the present situation.

Table 3: GDP composition in 1997

Agriculture and livestock 6.3 %

Industry 13.5 %
Water, Energy 1.5 %
Buildings and Public works 9.4 %
Transport 5.3 %
Trade 21.3 %
Housing services (Renting) 8.5 %
Other market services 22.6 %
Non-market services (Administrative) 11.6 %
Source: Ministry of Economy, in collaboration with INSEE. National Accounting, 1997, published in 2003.

II.1.7 Resources of the State and Municipalities

Will the expected GDP growth allow the State and the Municipalities to gain
comfortable margin of flexibility in the future?

This is very uncertain. In the present period, being excessively over-indebted, the
Government is trying to reduce its expenses everywhere possible. The day when
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Lebanon succeeds in putting an end to its critical indebtedness, there would probably
be a more severe control in order to consolidate the established balance and avoid
another slip.

Thus, without getting into detailed accounting calculations, which could be

meaningless given the extent of numbers and horizons of the Plan, it is obvious that
public finance is progressively becoming a limited resource that must be spent
rationally and on pre-evaluated objectives in all their dimensions.

These financial horizons can never be ignored. They restrict public service
improvement and administrative efficiency.

Investment credits offered by the public sector are very limited, because, for a country
with limited resources, priority is always for core operating expenditures. Therefore, it
would be risky to expect and count on an investment capacity of the State and
Municipalities exceeding US$ 40 billion to 50 billion for the coming 30 years, all
sources of public income included.

The considered privatization of various public sectors is likely to help rationalize

expenses in the given sector (electricity, water, etc.) by investments complementary to
those of the public sector. This can be the case of water, power, transport,
telecommunications, etc… knowing that a major part of the education and health
sectors is already privatized. Nevertheless, Public Authorities should not count on
privatization to increase their financial margins. In fact, eventual deficits in operation
of the services taken over by the private sector, due to the problem of collection of
bills (water, electricity, etc.) or solidarity of the systems (medical, insurance,
education grants etc.) should be taken in charge by the State, for a long period of time.
Contractors usually secure in their contracts public guarantees against deficits for
which they are not responsible.

Hence, if operational margins are to be secured for improving public services, the
only possible solutions within the framework of relative scarceness of public finance
reside in:

− Redeployment of expenditures (budgetary priorities);

− Minimization of unuseful expenditures (abolition or postponement); and
− Rationalization of the definition of priority projects in each field of action.

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II.2 THE CHALLENGE OF SOCIAL COHESION

Lebanon faces a major social challenge due to the addition of many vulnerable factors
of the Lebanese society.

The first of these factors is the persistence of the numerous psychological effects of
the Lebanese war, some 14 years after the end of hostilities. These effects are
portrayed in the restrictions imposed by many Lebanese in their movement and,
mostly, when relocating their habitat. This is also revealed by the important weight,
that the sectarian belonging occupies in the relationships with others as well as in
political attitudes and positions.

The second factor is the poverty that touches a very important portion of the
population, which is the result of difficulties in launching the economic activities of
the country ever since the end of the war2; and of the high cost of living which
characterizes Lebanon after-war, and finally of the uneven distributions of incomes.

The figures related to poverty vary as per the statistical sources, yet all of them do
converge to demonstrate its amplitude.

The study of the Economic and Social Development Fund – ESDF conducted by the
CDR in 2002 has analyzed the situation of households including children in school
age, in relevance to 2 poverty lines: the relative poverty line, set at 782 US$ per
month and per household (4.8 average family size), and the absolute poverty line, set
at 314 US$ per month and per household (also 4.8 average family size). At lower
levels than the relative poverty line, it would be impossible to satisfy the household’s
essential needs in terms of nutrition, habitat, transport, health care and education
expenditures. The absolute poverty line is strictly related to the ability of securing
food supply.

The above mentioned ESDF study showed that 42% of the households - including
children at school age – live under the relative poverty line (782
US$/month/household) and that 7% of households – and which include children – live
under the absolute poverty line (314 US$/month/household).

Another recent source, the study concerning working children and immigration (C.
Kasparian, USJ, 2001), has concluded, on the basis of a sample comprising
exclusively Lebanese households (with or without children at school age), that 59% of
these households had a monthly income lower than to 800 US$ per month, and that
35% of the households had a monthly income lower than to 500 US$ per month.
These results are most alarming3 in the sense that they reveal not only an even higher
proportion of poor people than in the previous study, but also because the households
of foreigners where poverty is theoretically more acute, particularly in the Palestinian
camps, are excluded from the sample.

2
The GDP per capita had still not recovered, in 2002 its 1974 level (in constant prices).
3
The differences of results between the 2 studies may be due to the fact that the USJ 2001 sample
included households without children (individuals or couples) alongside households with children.
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Figure II.1. : Percentage of households living below the absolute poverty level (314
USD per household per month) by Caza, based on the ESFF study of 2002

25

20

15

10

0
baabda

baalbak
beirut

jbeil

bint jbeil
koura

west bekaa

hasbaya

bsharre
saida
chouf

sour
kesserwan

marjeyoun

lebanon

batroun

hermel
zahle

jezzine
zghorta

rashaya

akkar
aley

nabatieh

minyeh
tripoli
metn

source : « Fond du Développement Economique et Social » 2002

Figure II.2. : Distribution of monthly income of Lebanese households in US $ in 8

categories based on the USJ study of 2001

indeterminé
100% 1.8
5000 et plus
3.1 4.3 2.6 1.8 4.7
5.5 3.4 3200-5000
5.9
10.9 9.6
80% 12.1 2400-3200
13.5 16.3 1600-2400
13.4
60% 1200-1600
22.1 21.9 800-1200
21.1
40% 500-800
300-500
23.3 22.4
21
20%

13 15 14.4
0%
année
1997

1999

2001

Source : « L’entrée des jeunes libanais dans la vie active et l’émigration », USJ 2001.

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Figure II.3. : Distribution of Lebanese households in function of their income in

1997 and 2001

25

2001

20
1997
% des ménages

15

10

0
<500 500-800 800-1200 1200-1600 1600-2400 2400-3200 3200-5000 5000>
Classes de revenus (en milliers de LL)

Sources : pour les revenus 2001, « L’entrée des jeunes libanais dans la vie active et l’émigration, USJ
2001 ». Pour les revenus 1997 : « Conditions de vie des ménages ACS, 1997 ».

Figure II.4 : Population growth in Lebanon between 1931 and 1997

4500000

4000000
Indépendance

3500000
Recensement

3000000
1943

2500000
1931

2000000
Enquête
1970

1500000
Période de guerre
1000000

500000

0
31

34

37

40

43

46

49

52

55

58

61

64

67

70

73

76

79

82

85

88

91

94

97
19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

19

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Another fragile factor lies in the possible effects of solving the public finance crisis
through taking out a part of the social security system, that allows the support through
subsidies and waivers, from thousands of families across Lebanon. What would
happen if the State should reduce the number of its public servants, or cut down the
retirement pensions, or stop purchasing certain agricultural products above their
market values, or collect all the water and electricity dues, before the economy takes
off again?

The risk of social fragmentation is even more worrying, as it is rooted across the
territory. Akkar and Baalbeck-Hermel are the most extremely poor regions of
Lebanon. Tripoli’s situation, north of Nahr Abou Ali, is most alarming. In many rural
regions, namely in the South, many villages indicate a high level of poverty despite
the fact that they often benefit from local and national systems of social security and
subsidiary. Poverty is also present in the suburbs of Beirut; some areas are completely
marginalized such as the southern seaside (Jnah, old seaside recreational institutions
which have been taken over by squatters). The social situation in the Palestinian
refugee camps, mostly in the South and in the North, poses serious concerns.

Confronted with these difficulties, the political class tried taking action by distributing
equipments and launching infrastructure works in the regions, under the pretext of
“balanced development”. But these answers, even if they temporarily relieve the
regions, contribute indirectly to further deepening the social gap between the regions.
Additionally, the multiplication of general teaching schools, technical schools and
branches of the Lebanese University limits the intermingling of the young generations
of the different regions of Lebanon.

The “centrifugal” tendency that affects the Lebanese society has been illustrated in
2002 by claiming for the separation of the Caza of Akkar from the Mohafaza of the
North, followed by a similar demand to separate both cazas of Baalbeck and Hermel
from the Mohafaza of the Bekaa, and then, by a third one to separate the cazas of
Jbayl and Kesrouane from the Mohafaza of Mount Lebanon.

Likewise, Lebanon seems to be the subject of sectarian and social fragmentation

forces not only from social and community issues but also from the type of
solutions given to economic and social development problems.

It is a major challenge for Lebanon to assert, more than ever, the constitutional
principle of territorial unity and the freedom of its citizens to reside and move
throughout all the Lebanese regions.

Lebanon should also review the methods of implementation of the “balanced

development” concept so that the interventions would not have negative impacts on
the goal of the unity of the country. In this perspective, “balanced development”
should be further directed towards direct economic activities as well as services
infrastructures. It should also favor the establishment of national public facilities to
enhance integration between different regions, and increase intermingling between all
Lebanese.

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This is a long-term action, which relies on the convergence of many policies. The
policy of land-use planning should also bring a strong contribution to answering this
challenge, through a vision of integration and unification of the future of the territory
with a redefinition of the priorities of the “balanced development”.

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II.3 THE DEMOGRAPHIC CHALLENGE

Another challenge that Lebanon is facing is the continuous growth of its resident
population which will certainly exceed 5 million people before 2030.

Historical background

At the establishment of “Greater Lebanon” in 1920, the country’s population was

barely larger than 500 000 people. The first, and the only, comprehensive population
Census that dates back to 1931 had given a total number of 793 000 people. At the
end of World War II, Lebanon’s population had already exceeded one million
inhabitants.

The country then experienced a considerable population growth, at the annual rate of
3.01 % for 30 years between 1945 and the outbreak of civil war in 1975. It reached
two million people by mid-60’s, and in 1970 there was a total number of 2.3 million
people (including the Palestinian camps).

This pace slowed down between 1970 and 1997 and the annual growth rate decreased
to an average of 2.08 %, which is still considerably high in view of the war conditions
for over half of this period. Resident population reached 4 million people in 19974.
The evolution observed between 1970 and 1997 took place concurrently with
important modifications in the mechanism of the demographic growth, where a
significant reduction in fertility rate was noted. This rate is presently 2.3 children per
woman (between the ages of 15 and 49), against 4.2 in 1986. There are large
differences among the regions (less than 2 in Beirut, around 3 in the North).

Therefore, the natural growth of the population will take a slower rate than previously
noted, particularly in Beirut and Mount-Lebanon. National projections show that the
annual growth rate would be about 1% between 2000 and 2030, which is less than
half the rate identified between 1900 - 1997.

Future growth of less than 1 % yearly?

The natural growth of the resident population in Lebanon would reach, all migration
trends excluded, 5.6 million people in 2030 (middle scenario). But Lebanon will not
reach this figure because of important emigration rates

Departures (immigrations) are closely linked with the economic and political situation
of Lebanon as well as of the destination countries. They have been considerable
during the years of war, slowed down since 1992, but remained however relatively
high until 1997, and started once again to increase after 1998. These movements

4
Amongst the 4 million inhabitants officially residing in Lebanon (CAS) in 1997, Palestinian refugees
censed by the UNRWA in the Camps accounted for at least 350 000 people. This number has reached
391 000 in June 2003, according to UNRWA. Half of these refugees live in the camps of the South and
one third in the camps of Mount-Lebanon (Beirut suburbs).
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include Lebanese emigrants as much as foreigners that return to their homeland, or

Palestinians that leave Lebanon.

Newcomers are affected by the same economic and political factors. Such factors
concern Lebanese citizens returning to Lebanon as well as foreigners immigrating to
Lebanon for professional purposes.

Based on objective analysis of scarce available data on migrations in Lebanon5, two

scenarios related to magnitude of departures were studied:

− The first one corresponds to a more balanced economic development and is

characterized by fewer departures and arrivals than in the past, and where
migration balance would be around –6,000 persons per year between 2001 and
2030 (that is around 170,500 persons for the whole period).

− The second one corresponds to a less balanced economic development, where

departures and arrivals would be more in magnitude and migration balance
would be around -27,000 persons yearly between 2001 and 2030 (roughly
789,180 persons for the whole period).

The effect of this negative balance of migrations with the outside would be to reduce
the population size that would be induced from a natural growth until 2030. Instead of
having a population of 5.6 million people in 2030, there would be 5.4 million people
as per the first scenario and 4.8 million people as per the second one.

The Physical Master Plan adopts a medial scenario, between these two scenarios,
with 5.2 million inhabitants in year 2030.

This scenario does not take into account Palestinian refugee displacements that could
result from international agreements in the frame of any peace process in the Middle
East. It is important to remember that this issue concerns around 0.4 million people
currently living in camps (according to 2003 UNRWA census), half of them in the
South (basically Saida and Tyre) and one third in the camps of Mount-Lebanon
(Beirut suburbs) and 14 % in the North (northern suburb of Tripoli).

Geographic distribution of population

The 2030 population6 has been projected at Mohafaza level, taking into account the
fertility rate of each Mohafaza and its probable evolution. The results have been
grouped in 4 geographic areas: Beirut and Mount-Lebanon, North and Akkar, Beqaa
and Baalbeck-Hermel, South and Nabatiyeh.

5
Especially, studies carried out by the University of St. Joseph in 2002 and 2003, and C. Kasparian,
2003.
6
Palestinians included.
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Table 4: Projected population growth by groups of Mohafaza for 2030

Population in Population in Growth %

1997 2030
Beirut and Mount Lebanon 1,910,896 2,310,000 21.22
North and Akkar 807,204 1,140,000 41.18
South and Nabatiyeh 747,477 1,040,000 37.93
Beqaa and Baalbeck-Hermel 539,448 740,000 38.90
LEBANON 4,005,025 5,230,000 30.79
Source: NPMPLT study, 2004

Table 5: Projected distribution of population by groups of Mohafaza for 2030

Population in 2030 % in 2000

Beirut and Mount Lebanon 2,310,000 44.2 % 47.3 %
North and Akkar 1,140,000 21.8% 20.4%
South and Nabatiyeh 1,040,000 19.9 % 18.9%
Beqaa and Baalbeck-Hermel 740,000 14.1 % 13.4%
LEBANON 5,230,000 100.0% 100.0%
Source: NPMPLT study, 2004

Differences in fertility rates can change the relative shares of each Mohafaza. In
general, each of the three Mohafazas (North, South and Beqaa) gained a point while
Beirut and Mount-Lebanon lost 3 points.

Within each Mohafaza, scenarios are considered in relation to the % of population

living in large agglomerations (more than 400,000) on one hand, and the % living
outside these agglomerations on the other hand. At the national scale, the population
in large agglomerations would increase from 64 % in 2000 to 65 % in 2030.

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Table 6: Proportion of inhabitants in agglomerations in 2000 and 2030

Geographic 2000 2030

entities Total Population in large Total Population in
population agglomerations population agglomerations

Beirut and Mount 1,911,000 1,651,000 86% 2,310,000 1,990,000 86%

Lebanon
North and Akkar 807,000 385,000 48% 1,140,000 620,000 54%
South and 747,000 327,000 44% 1,040,000 490,000 48%
Nabatiyeh
Beqaa and 539,000 181,000 34% 740,000 300,000 40%
Baalbeck-Hermel
LEBANON 4,005,000 2,544,000 64% 5,230,000 3,400,000 65%
Source: NPMPLT study, 2004

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II.4 THE CHALLENGE OF HOUSING SECTOR

The growth of house construction is mostly related to increase in the number of

households, which increases faster than population size, due to the decrease in the
cohabitation phenomenon: with a constant population, the number of households
increases because the average size of a household tends to diminish.

The average household size in Lebanon was 5.3 persons in 1970. It dropped down to
4.8 persons in 1997. In comparison, this average is still 6.8 persons in Pakistan and 5
in the Philippines, but only 4.7 in Tunisia, 2.4 in France and 2.3 in Quebec. This
reduction is due to a higher standard of living change in habits and traditions as well
as ageing of the population.

The National Physical Master Plan adopted a reasonable scenario of a reduction of the
average household size at the rate recorded in the past 30 years. Hence, it would drop
from 4.76 persons per household in 1997 down to 4.34 in 2020 and 4.21 in 2030.

Table 7: Evolution of household size through 2030

1997 2030 Evolution 1997 – 2030

Population 4,005,000 5,238,200 + 31 %
Household size 4.8 4.2 - 13 %
Number of households 843,600 1,321,600 + 57%

The number of households in 2030 will be slightly higher than the number of primary
residences. Taking into account the cohabitation aspect, i.e, more than 1 family living
in a house, the ratio considered is 1.024 households per primary residence. By using
this ratio, there will be 1,291,000 primary residences in the year 2030. A considerable
number of secondary residences and vacant houses are to be added.

Secondary residences used to represent 5.92 % of total no. of houses in 1996 (lower
than the 1970 value of 10.6%), while vacant houses represented 17.20 %
(significantly higher than the 1970 of 7.6 %).

For the future, the National Physical Master Plan considers that the increase of
secondary residences, an important factor for the economy of villages, would reach
about 11%, which is the one observed in 1970. It considers as well a relative decrease
in the proportion of vacant houses (which was abnormally high during the 1990’s due
to the population displacements prior to 1990 and real estate boom after that) to reach
that of the 1970’s, which was 8 %.

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The above adopted hypotheses lead to fixing the part of secondary residences and
vacant houses to 19 % of the housing stock in 2030 (against 18.2 % in 1970 and
23.1% in 1997).

Table 8: Evolution of housing stock in Lebanon through 2030

1996 2030 Evolution 1997 - 2030

Primary residences 792,000 1,291,000 + 63 %
Secondary residences 63,000 142,000 + 125 %
Vacant dwellings 183,000 127,000 - 30 %
Other 25,000 - -
Total housing stock 1,063,000 1,560,000 + 47 %

The growth in number of dwelling units of around 500,000 in 30 years remains lower
than the number of units that will be built because construction includes, besides the
reaction to demand, replacement of dilapidated and old houses. Every year, around
2000 units would be destroyed and replaced by new ones, which will raise total
construction up to 560,000 units between 1997 – 2030 (roughly 16,000 to 17,000
units yearly).

A social challenge

However, the issue of dwellings could not be studied only from a quantitative point of
view. Access to a dwelling in a country of medium and unevenly distributed income is
critical, especially for young households.

Recent studies have shown a discrepancy between income level of the majority of
youngsters below 30 years of age and costs for a dwelling. This situation induces
certainly over-indebtedness, adopting illegal solutions or permanent cohabitation with
parents, marriage postponement or even emigration.

There has to be solutions in order to support moderate apartment rentals, particularly

in large agglomerations.

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II.5 THE CHALLENGE OF NEEDS: TRANSPORT, WATER, WASTE,

EDUCATION AND HEALTH

The demographic growth of 1.2 million people over 30 years would necessarily be
translated into growing needs for the various urban services.

The evolution of the Lebanese society with time will be translated as well into
modifications in behaviors and expectations, particularly mobility, number of daily
trips, education of children and health care demands.

These evolutions had been estimated as follows:

Table 9: Adopted hypotheses for possible evolution of behavior

and needs for 2030

2000 2030 Growth

Population (middle scenario) 4,000,000 5,230,000 + 31 %
Transport
% of households having at least one car 65 % 75 % + 10 points
Total number of private cars 700,000 1,100,000 + 57 %
Number of daily motorized trips / person 0.7 1.1 + 57 %
Number of daily motorized trips/TOTAL 2,800,000 5,700,000 + 100 %
Water
Daily domestic water demand / person 200 liters 220 liters + 10 %
Total domestic water demand / year 296 Mm3 418 Mm3 + 41 %
Wastes
Weight of domestic wastes per person 336 kg 420 kg + 25 %
Weight of total domestic wastes in Lebanon 1.3 MT 2.2 MT + 63 %
Education
Group of ages between 3 to 22 (school age) 1,510,000 1,590,000 + 5.3 %
% of youngsters of school age 72 % 75 % + 3 points
Number of youngsters of school age 1,100,000 1,193,000 + 7.5 %

Challenges of the transportation sector

In 30 years, the vehicle fleet will increase by almost 60 %, as will the average number
of daily motorized trips per person in the same proportions. This will double the total
number of motorized trips, taken into account the expected demographic growth. This
evolution will provoke problems of infrastructure, densely located in the Central
Urban Area (Greater Beirut and Mount-Lebanon), where the situation could become
critical in many places if adequate managements or serious alternative public transport
are not implemented. Similar problems will arise at the entrances and crossings of
large cities. Road networks in rural regions, however, would continue responding to
the needs, without having to increase their capacity.
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Challenges of water demand

The increase in water demand for domestic consumption is related to demographic

growth (30% in 30 years) as well as to the growth in daily personal usage of water
(that could be estimated to be 10% in 30 years). The combination of these two factors
would lead to a domestic demand of roughly 420 Mm3 (net volume, losses in the
network excluded) in 2030, 41% more than in 2000. This perspective constitutes a
major challenge to the country, because the total volume actually distributed by the
Water Authorities is roughly 280 Mm3, only half of which reach consumers (because
of losses) who developed their own means of water provision (wells and tankers).
Hence, even if current losses in networks of 50% will be reduced to 20% in 2030,
Water Authorities will have to distribute 520 Mm3 (11% of the annual water balance
in Lebanon after evaporation) in order to satisfy the total domestic need. This
presumes a simultaneous increase of 86% of distributed quantities by the Authorities
and reduction of leakages from 50% to 20%. Without this double effort, private and
uncontrolled groundwater extraction would reach dangerous levels and high risk of
water shortage in many regions of the country, especially the large agglomerations.

Complementary resources should also be secured for irrigation. Currently, around

100,000 hectares (42% of cultivated areas, 33% of cultivable lands) are irrigated or
receive complementary irrigation. Of these 30,000 hectares constitute small parcels of
less than 1 dunum. Ongoing projects concern nearly 40,000 hectares of additional
irrigated lands; which is equivalent to a growth of 40% of irrigated areas. The amount
of water presently used for irrigation is 700 Mm3 yearly. Expected growth would
increase this amount to more than 1 Mm3 yearly (around 25% of the annual water
balance after evaporation). This constitutes a major challenge, though it would cover
at this stage, only half of exploitable lands in Lebanon.

Challenges of the solid waste sector problem

The quantities of solid wastes to collect and treat constitute another major challenge.
In 2001, each person used to generate 336 kg of waste per year. This quantity will
certainly increase. It has already increased by 30% between 1994 and 2001 with an
annual average rate of 4%. However, this growth is not indefinite, as demonstrated in
the industrialized countries, where quantities of wastes generated per person have
reached stable levels. In France, the weight is 420 kg of wastes per year per person. If
this rate is considered for Lebanon, the generated quantity in 2030 will be 2.2 MT of
domestic wastes per year, which will represent around 85-90% of total generated
weight of waste. This constitutes a 63% increase, compared to the current situation.
Will Lebanon, that did not yet adequately solve its solid waste management problem,
manage to answer this future challenge?

Needs for education facilities

As far as education is concerned, the major element to consider will be the decrease in
the number of school-age youngsters of the total population. The 3 to 17 years old
group represents today 30% of the total population. In 2030, they will represent only
23%. Their absolute number will remain steady of around 1.2 million people. The

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category of 17 to 22 years old will stabilize around 7.5% of population and their
number will increase from 310,000 people in 2000 to 390,000 in 2030. This will be
represented by an increase of 25% staggered along 30 years. The number of children
and youngsters from 3 to 22 years old, which constitutes the majority of school and
university age group, will increase from 1,510,000 to 1,590,000 between the years
2000 and 2030. Lebanon’s scholar system “fosters” at present around 1,100,000
students, which is more than 72% of the concerned population group. This rate is
already high, compared to other countries with similar or higher than Lebanon’s social
and economic situation. Even if this rate increases to 75% in 2030, additional
accommodation capacities will be limited to roughly 90,000 places over 30 years,
which is around 3000 places yearly, completely in the post-baccalaureate level.

Developments of the health care sector

In the health care sector, it is expected that the increase in demand would exceed the
increase of the population, due to various factors, such as ageing, health and
preventive care improvement, purchasing power, etc. On the other hand, health care
supply should no more be envisaged in a classical approach, which is outdated in
Europe and the USA, i.e, the number of beds for a given population. The future
system is to provide health care without necessarily having to displace the patients. A
large number would not have to leave their residences anymore and will be granted
permanent assistance and care. Furthermore, the future will see technical plateaus
being regrouped, for financial, security, as well as efficiency reasons. This assembling
will have to be accompanied by remarkable improvements in the means of transport
and transfer of patients.

At present, Lebanon is not facing problems of hospital bed capacity nor technical
plateau supply. It is endowed with roughly 170 hospitals, having a total number of
10,000 beds, equivalent to one bed for 400 inhabitants, which is considered to be a
very high rate. Besides, there are around 6 newly built public hospitals, designed to
supply, altogether, 1,000 additional beds.

The challenge to face here lies more in the quality of health care, access of deprived
people, control on expensive prescriptions (supported by public finance) and most
generally, health care cost management. It is particularly essential to define as soon as
possible, expected shares of private offers on one hand, and public offers on the other,
and to clarify rules related to percentage of expenses covered by consumers
themselves, by the health insurance system, private insurance as well as public
finance.

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II.6 THE CHALLENGE OF URBAN SPRAWL

II.6.1 Expected urban growth

The growth of housing stock, the development of facilities, and the appearance of new
activities would induce a growth of urbanized areas, with the addition of 250-300 km2
over a 30 year period to the existing 600 km2 of urbanized areas (in 2000).

In fact, at the beginning of the 1960’s, Lebanon had a population of only 2 million
people and 260 km2 of urbanized areas; that is 130 m2 per inhabitant. In 1998, these
numbers increased to 4 million people, 600 km2 of urbanized areas and 150 m2 per
inhabitant. In 2030, adopting a ratio of 170 m2 of urban area per inhabitant, there will
be a total urbanized area of 884 km2, for a population of 5.2 million people, which
represents a growth of 284 km2 within 30 years.

These statistics show that future urban growth should be between 250 and 300 km2,
that is an annual growth rate similar, in absolute value, to that of the 1963-1998 period
(the only available information to date: + 10 km2 per year).

This expansion poses a major challenge for Lebanon, because its potential impact,
depending on how it is managed, could be important on the quality of life, water
resources availability, costs of infrastructures, and the future of natural, agricultural
and landscape areas.

Urban sprawl will be located according to the following two factors:

− Evolution of demand for housing, enterprise and facilities: it is

characterized by an important inertia, in the sense that the existing
urban structure remains determined – at national, regional and local
scales – by the urban pressure. Therefore, growth of large development
areas in the different regions and agglomerations will be only marginal
(see previous tables of the “Demographic Challenge”).

− Action of the Authorities: legislation, localized decisions, and

provision of infrastructures and facilities have an important effect on
the form of urbanization, in terms of concentration or scattering, more
or less high densities, more or less harmonious aspects, avoiding or not
a number of sensitive areas (natural, agricultural, flood prone area,
etc.).

It is the second factor that weighs the most in the potential impact that urban
expansion might generate on resources, costs, quality of services and quality of life.

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II.6.2 Distribution of lands for urbanization

Distribution of lands intended for urbanization has been analyzed for the coming 30
years, taking into account a progressive densification of areas nearest to cities (in
terms of construction as well as demographic development) and an un-densification of
current highly dense urban zones (in terms of demography).

Distribution of some additional 250 to 300 km2 of urbanized surfaces has been carried
out in steps:

− Geographical distribution of resident population in 2030 (or housing

stock, which is almost the same) has been carried out on the basis of
Mohafazas, and then distributed within each Mohafaza (see
“Demographic Challenge”).

− The tendency of the existing urban structure to increase or decrease its

density (by number of dwellings per urbanized residential hectare) has
been evaluated. It was possible to identify for each agglomeration a
maximum accommodation population capacity in existing urban
structure by 2030, and the needs for expansion (expressed in number of
dwellings).

− Available areas (except highly steep slopes) have been surveyed in the
perimeter and around each important agglomeration. The capacity of
accommodating population has been evaluated using densities, in
logical continuity of existing conditions.

− Urban expansions have therefore been roughly planned around existing

agglomerations, by avoiding agricultural terrains, major natural areas,
steep slopes, and hazardous zones.

− This first exercise has been adjusted, afterwards, taking into

consideration the spatial choices of the National Physical Master Plan,
particularly the will to alleviate the urban pressure exerted on coastal
areas, in favor of a more controlled development of interior large
agglomerations such as Zahle-Chtaura and Nabatiyeh.

The result of total urban sprawl distribution (300 km2 or 30 000 hectares) is presented
as follows:

− Central Urban Area (Greater Beirut and surrounding agglomerations)

would have roughly an additional area of 5 500 hectares.

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− The agglomeration of Tripoli would need an additional area of around

1,800 hectares, if it is intended to decrease the particularly high
densities of the center and the suburbs7.

− Other large agglomerations in the country (Baalbeck, Zahle-Chtaura,

Nabatiyeh, Saida, Tyre, Jbayl) would need an additional area between
6 000 to 1000 hectares each, in order to satisfy their urban expansion8.

− The rest of the cities and villages of Lebanon (more than 1,000) would
need all together around 12,000 to 15,000 hectares that is an average of
1.2 to 1.5 hectares per locality (average varying according to size and
geographic location of the locality).

Precisions of methodology

The numbers of urbanized areas in 2030 that result from this forecast should be
explicitly interpreted.

Hence, while foreseeing a growth in the urbanized areas of the Central Urban Area
from 170 km2 up to 225 km2 (a growth of 55 km2 in some 30 years), it should not be
concluded that the urban planning should provide an area of 55 km2 to accommodate
residents and additional activities from now and until 2030.

In fact, it is in general necessary to prepare the local urban planning documents for
larger constructible areas than expected. The reason behind this difference is due to
the fact that property market cannot be controlled by a plan. Even if the land is
classified for high rise buildings, it could remain unused, or built with less then %
maximum capacity.

This methodological comment should be taken into account while elaborating local
urban planning documents, or reviewing old ones, in which the most important issue
is to locate areas of urban expansion and offer rights to build, exceeding forecasted
volume of expected demand (which itself, is not an approximation).

7
Expansion of the agglomeration of Tripoli would be obviously less important should a settlement of
the Palestinian cause occur, including return of refugees and closing of the camps.
8
For Saïda and Tyre, urban sprawl would be significantly less important should a settlement of the
Palestinian cause occur, including return of refugees and closing of Aïn-Heloueh, Bas, Rashidiyeh and
other camps.
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Table 10: Urban and demographic growth in Central Urban Area

Urbanized Resident Urbanized Resident

surfaces in population surfaces in population
2 2
2000 (km ) 2000 2030 (km ) 2030
Beirut 20 400,000 20 400,000
First ring 70 900,000 80 1,000,000
Second ring 80 300,000 125 530,000
TOTAL 170 1,600,000 225 1,930,000
Note: The 2000 population of the first ring includes Palestinian refugees. The projections of growth
would be less in this zone, in case the Palestinian cause is settled and the camps are to be closed.

Table 11: Urban and demographic growth in the agglomeration of Tripoli

Urbanized Resident Urbanized Resident

surfaces in population surfaces in population
2 2
2000 (km ) 2000 2030 (km ) 2030
Tripoli 8.0 220,000 14.0 320,000
Suburbs 15.0 102,000 27.0 210,000
TOTAL 23.0 322,000 41.0 530,000
Note: The 2000 population in suburbs includes Palestinian refugees. The projections of growth would
be less in this zone, in case of the Palestinian cause is settled leading to closing of camps.

Table 12: Urban and demographic growth in the agglomeration of Saïda

Urbanized Resident Urbanized Resident

surfaces in population surfaces in population
2 2
2000 (km ) 2000 2030 (km ) 2030
Saida 3.3 88,000 4.0 80,000
Suburbs 12.1 86,000 21.0 186,000
TOTAL 15.4 166,000 25.0 266,000
Note: as Table 11.

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Table 13: Urban and demographic growth in the agglomeration of Jbayl

Urbanized Resident Urbanized Resident

surfaces in population surfaces in population
2 2
2000 (km ) 2000 2030 (km ) 2030
Jbayl 2.0 14,000 2.5 16,000
Suburbs 11.6 37,000 14.0 49,000
TOTAL 13.6 51,000 16.5 65,000

Table 14: Urban and demographic growth in the agglomeration of Zahle

Urbanized Resident Urbanized Resident

surfaces in population surfaces in population
2000 (km2) 2000 2030 (km2) 2030
Zahle 4.1 52,000 4.5 55,000
Suburbs 7.8 65,000 15.5 138,000
TOTAL 11.9 117,000 20.0 193,000

Table 15: Urban and demographic growth in the agglomeration of Nabatiyeh

Urbanized Resident Urbanized Resident

surfaces in population surfaces in population
2000 (km2) 2000 2030 (km2) 2030
Nabatiyeh 3.5 22,000 5.5 40,000
Suburbs 11.5 30,000 15.5 44,000
TOTAL 15.0 52,000 21.0 84,000
Note: idem Table 11.

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Table 16: Urban and demographic growth in the agglomeration of Baalbeck

Urbanized Resident Urbanized Resident

surfaces in population surfaces in population
2 2
2000 (km ) 2000 2030 (km ) 2030
Baalbeck 5.5 50,000 7.0 70,000
Suburbs 3.9 30,000 8.4 35,000
TOTAL 9.4 64,000 15.4 105,000

Table 17: Urban and demographic growth in the agglomeration of Tyre

Urbanized Resident Urbanized Resident

surfaces in population surfaces in population
2000 (km2) 2000 2030 (km2) 2030
Tyre 3.1 48,000 3.4 52,000
Suburbs 6.7 69,000 12.9 122,000
TOTAL 9.8 117,000 16.3 174,000
Note: as Table 11.

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Figure II.5 Urban pressure

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II.7 ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGE

For the coming decades, Lebanon will be facing more environmental degradation
challenges.

Demographic growth, urban expansion and life standard improvement (which would
lead to higher possibilities for construction, vehicle facilities, etc.) will in fact increase
the pressure on natural resources.

II.7.1 Water quality

Groundwater quality is already in an alarming situation, due to the infiltration of

pollutants (wastewater, industrial wastes, solid wastes leachates, etc.) and the increase
of uncontrolled drilling of wells (more than 45 000 private wells, according to the
1996 CAS Census). This pollution has direct effects on public health and health-
related expenditures.

Demographic and urban growth foreseen for the coming 30 years can lead the water
resources sector to a catastrophic situation if the number of wells, instead of
decreasing, continues on increasing, or if water treatment projects lag behind,
especially in zones of vulnerable resources (prone to high infiltration into the ground).

Thus, ending the degradation of water resources constitutes one of the most important
challenges that Lebanon will have to face in the coming decades.

II.7.2 Wastes

Solid waste generation is expected to grow by more than 60% by 2030. This
represents a significant challenge for the national and municipal authorities.

To date, only collection of domestic waste had been managed reasonably well.
Dumping sites were badly managed and those of large cities ended up looking as
mountains of non compact wastes at the seashore in most cases (Saida, Bourj
Hammoud,..). These sites reached their saturation capacity in few years and
occasionally caused accidental pollution problems. Solid wastes in rural areas are still
disposed off in dumps, mostly on the banks of valleys causing high risk to water
pollution, and thus health and tourism activities.

Sanitary landfill sites should be managed in a totally different way, based on solutions
that commensurate with the size of the challenge. In the short-term, it is necessary to
locate sites capable of absorbing 1.5 million tons per year, equivalent to nearly 1
million cubic meters of compacted wastes, more than half of which are generated by
Mount Lebanon and Beirut. If sanitary landfill sites are designed for 20-m height, half
of which are below ground, an annual area of more than 10 to 15 hectares would be
required at the national scale. If waste were not properly compacted, the land
required would be more than 40 hectares per year.

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In the Central Urban Area, the challenge consists of where to find 6 to more than 20
hectares of land per year that would be far from residential areas?

In other regions, landfills will require less area, but those serving large
agglomerations will necessarily be of larger size.

Surely, it is possible to envisage a reduction in the quantities of waste by previous

composting or waste-to-energy treatment. These solutions, however, are very slow to
implement, because they require significant funding. Even in the case of an ideal
treatment of all wastes, the “ultimate waste” volume would not be reduced by more
than 30% to 40%.

II.7.3 Quarries

Quarries and the pressure they exert on natural areas as well as on the quality of life
constitute another major challenge to the environment.

Lebanon did not succeed in adequately managing this issue. Many quarries (the
majority of them) are unlicensed, and most of them, even the authorized ones, have
not respected legal dispositions in terms of material extraction and site rehabilitation.

Hence, the attitude of the authorities has been divided between the recognition of
economic and social importance of quarries, the need to put an end to illegal activities
or on the contrary tolerating them, or total and firm prohibition on the entire territory.
The authorities did not take a definitive decision whether extraction sites should be
concentrated in few zones, or on the contrary, distributed on small and medium-sized
quarries all over the country.

Hundreds of relatively old quarries in Lebanon have caused a serious visual intrusion
to the often spectacular natural landscapes of more than 3,000 hectares of lands. Every
year, the needs of the country for raw material would require the use of tens of
additional hectares.

Demands for raw material-roughly 3 million m3 per year

The challenge of quarries is to be examined, differentiating between 4 major

categories of materials: gravel, sand, calcareous cement and stone. The significant
pressure on the landscape and the environment concerns essentially sand and gravel,
which represent more than 80% of the demands.

An average of 200 to 300 tons of aggregates (sand and gravel) is required to build an
apartment. Over the period 2000 to 2030, an annual average between 2 metric tons
(lower scenario) and 4 metric tons (higher scenario) of aggregates is required for
apartment construction only.

The needs related to other types of construction (offices, industrial, and commercial
facilities) are estimated at 0.5 Mt per year over the same period.

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Finally, the aggregates needed for road construction are estimated at an average of
5,000 tons of aggregates per 1 km of road (double carriage way) construction and
20,000 tons per km of new highway. Ordinary road maintenance consumes around
10% of these values, while rehabilitation can even consume 40%. Hence, if Lebanon’s
entire road network is to be maintained or rehabilitated only once during the 25
coming years, and should the network be extended in reasonable proportions, an
annual volume of roughly 2 Mt of aggregates is required.

Overall, Lebanon’s current demands for aggregates can be estimated as follows: 2 to

4 Mt per year for houses, 0.5 Mt per year for other types of construction and 2 Mt per
year for roads. This makes a total quantity in the range of 4.5 and 6.5 Mt per year, or 2
to 2.5 Mm3.

With other extracted materials (calcareous cement, rocks, clay, etc.), the volume to
extract – for the Lebanese BTU current needs – could represent up to 3 million m3 per
year (including aggregates).

If the entire volume is to be provided from local production, the impact of quarries in
terms of site disturbances would be significant. In fact, we shall account for the
percentage of waste contained in the extracted material and for the land used for
storage, circulation, set back, etc.. As such, for obtaining 3 Mm3 of usable material,
some 4 Mm3 should be extracted and the areas required would be 60 to 80 hectare per
year.

Taking into consideration the rough topography of Lebanon and the high rate of
urbanization, a rigorous management policy is required to control the quarrying
activities.

Land reclamation, the great consumer of materials

The problem of quarries has emerged in Lebanon with large-scale reconstruction

projects during the 1990’s. With limited authority control, demand for materials has
been significant, ranging between 10 Mm3 and 15 Mm3 per year during the period
1994-2000. A considerable part of extracted material (roughly one third) has been
used for land reclamation in Greater Beirut (Dbayeh, Beirut Central District, Beirut
International Airport runway). This part represents more than 30 Mm3, which is
equivalent to 8 to 10 years of ordinary Lebanese BTP consumption.

Land reclamation projects in Lebanon are frequent and many of them are under study
in Tripoli, Jounieh, Jdaydeh, Saida, etc. Additionally dikes, and marinas are
constructed all along the coastline.

Hence, the effect of land reclamation on the proliferation of quarries must be

systematically evaluated on both the economic and environmental levels. Scars in the
landscapes caused by the quarries left doubt and reservations about the interest, for
example, of the Dbayeh land reclamation for offering only 5,000 dwellings, the
construction of which would have required 4 to 5 hectares of quarries only.

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II.7.4 Marine pollution

Seawater quality is very critical. Untreated domestic and industrial wastewater

outfalls and intentional or accidental disposal of thousands of tons of solid wastes into
the sea induce a catastrophic situation along the seashore, which threatens the seaside
tourism, the fishing sector and the coastal ecosystems. Demographic and urban
expansion will surely worsen the situation if no protection measures are undertaken.

The challenge is great; it will be necessary, first to stop degradations in order to

change the trend and expect an improvement of the coastline situation.

II.7.5 Natural areas

Natural terrestrial areas have been the subject of major deteriorations, essentially due
to the break of the natural continuity induced by urban encroachment, quarries, as
well as waste disposal in valleys. In the future, the risk would be to see additional
urban encroachment on new and valuable natural areas, endangering Lebanon’s most
important assets, its attractiveness and quality of life.

Public action however, could provide efficient responses to this challenge. A part of
these measures consist of expensive investments in the treatment infrastructure for
domestic water as well as wastewater. It is difficult to provide satisfactory
infrastructure in a short period of time due to lack of available financial resources. But
there is an important part of the responses that have no financial value. They consist
of regulatory aspects, especially those that can orient urban settlements towards areas
of low environmental risks.

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II.8 THE CHALLENGE OF WAR AND PEACE

The last but not least major challenge that Lebanon faces is the Middle East conflict.

This conflict and all its ramifications weigh quite heavily on the opportunities for
economic and social development in all the countries of the region, among which is
Lebanon.

The economic and social ambitions that Lebanon strives for may be stalled by this
conflict and its cyclic crisis.

On the contrary, the establishment of a just and sustainable peace in the region could
substitute the security threats and limitations of movement of men and goods by
serious economic threats.

Against this conflict and the uncertainties linked to the resolution of the conflict,
Lebanon must strengthen its acquired positions and prepare itself for possible
changes.

National and Local Stakes

The stakes of war and peace encroach on national economic perspectives as well as
South Lebanon’s development opportunities.

At the national level, the constant state of conflict in the Near East restrains, on more
than one issue, opportunities for development. The establishment of peace would
greatly strengthen the investors’ confidence in the entire region, including Lebanon,
encouraging establishment of enterprises, international tourism and trade exchanges.
On the other hand, Lebanon and most of the Arab countries of the region might face
the competition of a very developed foreign economy, which offers highly efficient
port, airport, engineering and tourism services. Because of this competition, Lebanon
will need to depend on improving the quality of its services sector as well as on the
communication advantages it enjoys with other countries and Arab economic agents.

Regarding South-Lebanon, the constant state of conflict has deprived this region from
the traditional exchanges it has enjoyed prior to 1948, with the North of Palestine, and
has made out of Beirut and the sea the only gate to new markets. The establishment of
a sustainable peace would reinstate the strategic importance of this region mainly
through opening the road towards Qoneitra, Safad and Haifa. The economic situation
of South Lebanon would then be radically changed.

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National Physical Master Plan of the Lebanese Territory III – Basic Choices
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CHAPTER III

BASIC CHOICES

The ambitions and objectives that Lebanon has set in its Constitution and vocation put an
outline for the country’s prosperous and united future, where it would constitute an
internationally recognized regional pole that would respect and expose its resources and
heritage, and ensure that high quality collective services are provided to its citizens.

The challenges of the future show that these ambitions are not easily achieved, that there
could even be risks of deterioration and that only adequate strategic choices would allow
overcoming difficulties and reaching the ambitions.

What should these fundamental strategic basic choices be?

Expected responses to the various challenges converge towards three choices that are
unity, balance and rationalization, as represented in the following table:

Table 18: Challenges of the future and required responses

Economic development Reduce production costs

Diversify activities
Connect all the regions
Public Finance Rationalize usage of public Finance
Reduce costs of public services
Uncertainty of regional conflict Improve competitiveness
Social cohesion Promote national unity
Promote solidarities
Support local economy
Demographic growth, Urban sprawl, Rationalize the use of land
Environment, Needs Rationalize the use of resources
Provide the infrastructure required
nationwide

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Effectively:

− Land use management must promote the unity of the country, economy, society,
and territory. It is the major obligation required to confront economic and social
challenges of Lebanon.

− Land use management must work to alleviate discrepancies of development

between regions, but in the framework of a new, objective and modern conception
of balanced development principle.

− Land use management must look for a rational use of the country’s limited
resources, particularly natural resources and public finance.

These fundamental choices overwhelm the entire orientations adopted by the National
Physical Master Plan at the spatial level, be it in the determination of soil vocations,
proposed urban structure, development projects for the various regions, orientations in
the field of transport and public infrastructure, urban planning and management of
urbanization development or natural resources and heritage management.

Thus, these choices constitute the basic parts of the adopted “management solution”.

III.1 A UNITARY AND INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT OF THE NATIONAL

TERRITORY

The fundamental choice of an integrated development of the nation is important in order

to give more strength to the national economy and counter permanent risks of
fragmentation of the national entity. However, this choice is not contradictory with an
efficient decentralization at the municipality level.

The National Physical Master Plan promotes a unitary and integrated development which
contradicts another vision that consists of concurrently implementing similar regional
projects (at the Mohafaza or Caza level for example), thinking that this would be more
beneficial and take into account local factors. Such a vision, besides that it would not
secure a coherent plan, would contribute to anchoring development inequalities and
emphasizing centrifugal tendencies (separation of regions, communities and local
economies); its impact on the national economy would have been less advantageous and
its impact on public finance much heavier.

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The “unitary and integrated” choice could materialize through a series of arrangements:

− Priority to facilities and infrastructures of national importance: harbors, airports,

road network, Lebanese University, but also conservation of agricultural, natural
and tourism potential of the country, and global valorization of water resources,
mountain and coastline.

− A unitary conception of economic development over the entire territory: the

economy of cities and distant regions should not be conceived as a sum of similar
local economies, but as components of a single national system, in which each
region brings its specific contribution. This means that not only agricultural and
tourism development will take place in distant regions, but also services and
industrial sectors will develop.

− The development of each region of Lebanon (North, Center, East and South) must
itself be further unified: large cities being the most prepared to play an economic
leading role on behalf of their regions. The unity of development must be
organized, in each region, around powerful urban centers. The more economically
powerful Tripoli will be, the more the North region will benefit. Economic
development will not occur by dissemination of small facilities, but from high
investments in the industrial and services sectors.

− Road-links among large agglomerations of the country, among these

agglomerations and secondary cities of their rural hinterland and among
secondary cities and villages must be significantly improved in order to serve this
unitary vision.

− The Lebanese university should no longer be scattered in various branches.

Faculties must reunite. They also must be established in 4 campuses in the
country, namely the North, Greater Beirut, the South and the Beqaa, each of them
having all the faculties, in a way that encourages intermingling of youth.

Nevertheless, Land management should not be only unitary, but integral as well.
Solutions for water services, solid wastes and wastewater treatment must be undertaken
with close cooperation between municipalities and all stakeholders. Unions of
Municipality will play a major role in the implementation of these solutions and
conception of integral development projects over vast territories.

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III.2 A POSITIVE DEFINITION OF THE BALANCED DEVELOPMENT

PRINCIPLE

The principle of balanced development of regions has to be implemented with more

strength, but in the framework of a modern conception of action that avoids anything that
could contribute to the fragmentation of the country or to weakening solidarities and
complementarities among the cities and regions.

When equality of treatment of regions implies fragmentation of education facilities or

creation of power plants in each region to insure autonomy, or administrative divisions
intended to reinforce communitarian homogeneity, these actions would work against
national unity.

On the contrary, when equality of treatment consists of assuring the same level of basic
public services (water, electricity, education, health care, etc.) all over the country, by
accepting, and even favoring unity of national level facilities (universities, higher
professional formation, energy production, etc.) and their establishment in regional poles,
such policy strengthens the purpose of national unity.

Hence, the concept of balanced development of regions adopted by the National Physical
Master Plan relates to the following orientations:

− Absolute evenness of treatment of all the regions as far as the quality of basic
services is concerned (water, electricity and telephone);

− Development of the entire water resources in favor of towns, industries and

agriculture over the national territory;

− Participation of all the regions in the development of the national economy by

choosing a complementary development of major national activities over 4
major urban entities: Central Urban Area (Beirut + Mount-Lebanon), the capital
of the North Tripoli, the large agglomerations of Beqaa (Zahle-Chtaura,
Baalbeck) and the large agglomerations of the South (Saïda, Nabatiyeh, Tyre).

− Priority given to the Port of Tripoli for transit shipment towards Iraq;

− Priority given to the development of 3 major industrial zones: north of Tripoli, in

the agglomerations of Zahle-Chtaura and between Ghazieh and Zahrani;

− Distribution of the Lebanese University faculties and main industrial zones over 4
areas: Greater Beirut, Tripoli, Zahle, and Nabatiyeh.

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− Development of commercial functions of 2 secondary agglomerations, Saida and

Jbayl, as the gates of the Central Urban Area towards the South and the North;

− Remarkable development of tourist functions of Baalbeck and Tyre;

− Strengthening of road links between each of the centers and the rest of the
surrounding areas;

− Development of the most deprived regions, particularly with the reinforcement of

the connection between Hermel and Tripoli through Akkar (highway project
between Tripoli and Halba and improvement of the bypass between Qobaiyat and
Hermel), between Baalbeck and Hermel (improvement of the existing itinerary),
as well as reinforcement of the links from Hasbayya towards the North and South,
and between Sir-Denniyeh and the 3 neighboring regions: Tripoli, Ehden and
Akkar.

III.3 RATIONAL USE OF RESOURCES

The Rational use of resources, be it: public Finance, agricultural soil, water, resources of
tourist attractions (sea, landscapes, heritage, etc.), existing and future infrastructure and
facilities and of course lands in urban as well as rural areas; answers at the same time to
the vital need to limit public expenses wherever possible, to secure a better social
benefice of resources and to increase competitiveness in various sectors of the economy.

A country’s resources constitute an Asset. To benefit from its advantages, it is important

to invest in this asset rather than consume it. This is the rule that should guide the use of
resources in Lebanon, be that natural, human, physical or financial resources.

However, when there is no choice but to consume one part of the asset (to offer lands for
construction, for example), rational approach consists in minimizing losses (to avoid
offering the best agricultural lands or to degrade exceptional sites), or in transforming this
part of the consumed asset to another type of asset (a well-fitted construction that would
enrich the landscape).

To know how to use natural resources

The main natural resources of Lebanon are water, sites (mountains, valleys, coastline,
etc.), agricultural lands and natural vegetation (forests, etc.). Being limited, their rational
use is more than vital.

These resources play an important role in the quality of life, agricultural productivity and
tourist attractions. It is necessary to avoid their dilapidation and, on the contrary, use each
of them in the most profitable manner.
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Water is a rare resource in the Middle East and Lebanon has the “gift” of being more
endowed than its neighboring countries. Nevertheless, enormous efforts are needed in
order to control its use and preserve its quality. Lebanon has to carry out this task in a
productive approach, aiming at a better quality of life for citizens and a higher
productivity of agricultural lands. There is a large consensus upon this national objective.
It is therefore essential to find ways to realize it.

Remarkable sites (mountains, valleys, landscapes and coastline) and natural areas
(especially forested zones) constitute in Lebanon a unique asset that must be used for
improving the quality of life and the tourism economy. The use of sites, as resources,
should avoid their degradation. Conflicts of uses (on the coastline, mountains, etc.)
should be regulated in a way best suitable for the sustainable valorization of this asset. In
particular, all forms of pollution are to be avoided, whether it is solid or liquid wastes, or
“visual” pollution (obstruction of views, mediocre architecture, degraded or ruined
construction, etc.).

Lebanon’s agricultural lands are among the most fertile lands in the Middle East.
Moreover, they provide a large diversity of location and exposure (latitudes, elevations,
coastal zones and interior plains, etc.), which allows cultivating a large variety of
produce. The best lands constitute a national asset that should not be dilapidated.

What applies to water resources, sites and soils is generally applicable to the entire
national territory. In fact, Lebanon is a small territory that is densely populated. The
population density is even one of the highest in the world (11th rank). It is essential to
ensure, in this small territory, the necessary functions required for the life and activities
of the 4 million people of Lebanon (more than 5 million in 30 years from now).

But there are various constraints: only 39% of the territory is beneath 800 m of elevation
and 35% is located above 1,200 m. The length of the coast is less than 250 km long. The
scarcity of the “land” resource compels to organize its use in a reasonable manner and,
before all, its economy. The objective must be not to waste areas that are most adequate
for a given activity, by using it for another one.

To save public funds

For almost twenty years, Lebanon has been characterized by very costly multiplication of
various forms of urban development, especially isolated construction, away from existing
districts or villages.

Such forms of development induce growing expenditures for network extension (water,
wastewater, electricity and telephone) and even major facilities displacement (reservoirs,
pumping stations, transformers, etc.), road network maintenance and solid waste
collection. Taking into consideration the limited public finance, Lebanon could no longer
be a burden on the State and the Municipalities for such kind of avoidable expenses. Most
countries in the world, including developed ones, have implemented policies aiming at
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reducing forms of urbanization that could be costly for the Community, or make investors
contractors bear induced direct or indirect expenses. Public welfare must meet this path.

In this framework, investment programs assume a major importance, where criteria for
project selection must be refined: financial budgets allocated for different sectors must be
better calibrated to satisfy the needs of sector by sector. The choices of projects within
one sector must, without exceptions, promote the performance of existing installations in
favor of new projects.

To know how to use other resources

The same approach is valid for all types of resources in the country, starting with the first
primary resource, the human resource. Lebanon must encourage the use of its labor force
in professions they have trained for, and try to resolve all the problems that lead the
young generation to emigrate. An active person who lives and works in the country
would contribute far more to the national economy than a one who has emigrated, even if
the latter transfers money to his or her family in Lebanon.

As for physical resources, such as transport infrastructures and others, they must be used
adequately: a highway must help reduce the distances and transport time between two
cities. However, its use as a commerce boulevard might generate traffic obstructions, and
increase transport time from one place to another that increase these distances. Profit of
the commerce activity for a small number of people could not compensate for the
economic loss induced by these obstructions.

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National Physical Master Plan of the Lebanese Territory IV– The Perspectives of the National Physical Master Plan
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CHAPTER IV

THE PERSPECTIVES OF THE NATIONAL PHYSICAL MASTER PLAN

With the three fundamental choices of unity, balanced development and

rationalization of expenditures, the major guidelines of the National Physical Master
Plan are presented in 8 points:

1 - Structure the territory around the major urban centers;

2 - Associate all regions to the national economic development;
3 - Distribute the major public facilities in an effective and integrated manner;
4 - Unite the territory with an efficient and developed transportation network;
5 - Insure an urban development of good quality, respecting the characteristics of
each region;
6 - Highlight and benefit from the natural wealth of the country;
7 - Exploit the water resources in a sustainable way; and
8 - Resolve efficiently the problems of quarries, wastewater and solid wastes.

IV.1 STRUCTURING THE TERRITORY AROUND THE MAJOR URBAN

CENTERS

The general economic performance of the country depends largely on the strength of
its cities. When the economy is getting more dependent on the tertiary and industrial
sectors, the cities would play the driving force role in the development of the regions
and state.

This economic necessity meets with the objectives of a balanced development (at the
large regions level: North, East, South) on one hand, and of unity and integration on
the other. The dynamism of the cities is a prerequisite for the global development of
the surrounding regions. Cities are also the place where different social classes
intermingle, exchange and meet with each other.

The choice of a major role for large cities meets as well with the concern of
preserving the character of the rural areas, villages, natural zones and major
agricultural areas. Construction would be allowed at a specified density, which limits
urban encroachment on other areas.

For large cities to play an effective leading role in the development of their regions,
the National Physical Master Plan advocates a general structure where major
agglomerations interact with the surrounding villages, particularly through a series of
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small “relay-villages” that secure administrative, commercial and service functions

for a number of villages.

This interaction would ensure that sufficient income is guaranteed to the rural regions
for the population to stabilize in place and develop its life conditions.

IV.1.1 Proposed urban structure

The proposed structure consists of an urban system that should operate as the organs
of the same body. Its components are:

The major agglomerations are:

− The Central Urban Area (Beirut and the Mount Lebanon);

− Cities located at the gates of this Central Urban Area: Jbayl and Saida;
− The large metropolis of the north: Tripoli;
− The metropolis of balance (growth centers): Zahlé-Chtaura and
Nabatiyeh; and
− The large patrimonial cities: Baalbeck and Tyre.

The rural regions consist of:

− The relay-villages; and
− Other localities.

Today, the major agglomerations (the ones with more than 40 000 permanent
residents) account for two thirds of the country’s population. The National Physical
Master Plan adopted maintaining this proportion for 2030, which means stabilizing of
population between cities and villages. Among the major agglomerations, the relative
weight of the “Central Urban Area” should decrease. It would diminish from 40% of
the population to 35%, under the dual effect of an objective factor namely a lower
natural growth rate, and a subjective effect, which is the will to strengthen the
country’s other major agglomerations.

The rest of the territory (one third of the residents in more than 1 000 localities) will
be planned around significant urban centers: the North and Akkar around Tripoli;
Beqaa and Baalbeck-Hermel around Zahle-Chtaura and Baalbeck; the South and
Nabatieh around Saida, Nabatiyeh and Tyre; and the highlands of Mount Lebanon
around the Central Urban Area.

Interconnections with the rural world are assured through the network of Relay-
villages that would be the centers of services and commerce directly accessible from
the surrounding villages.

The other localities of the rural world would experience a development based on
diversification of their sources of income: besides agriculture and public
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employments, it is necessary to reinforce trade, services, tourism and summer

holidays activities.

IV.1.2 Urban structure in the North and Akkar

In the North and Akkar, the agglomeration of Tripoli has presently 48% of the
population, whereas the small cities and villages of the area account for 52% of the
population. The share of the agglomeration could increase in 2030, with the current
growth of urban development, but the rural area will maintain almost half of the
residents (the two Mohafazas combined).

Within the rural areas of the two Mohafazas of the North, some villages, being more
important than others, will play the role of relay-villages. There are 14 “relay-
villages” in the region, of which 9 are in the North, and 5 in Akkar:

− For the coastal area of Batroun: Batroun

− For the high area of Nahr el-Jaouz: Tannourine Tahta
− For Koura: Amyoun
− For the region of Qannoubine: Ehden and Besharreh
− For the region of Zghorta: Zghorta
− For the region of Danniyeh: Sir
− For the North coastal area: Minieh and Aabde
− For lower Akkar: Halba, expected to be the administrative center of the
Mohafaza of Akkar
− For middle Akkar: Beyno
− For higher Akkar: Fnaydeq
− For the region of Qobeyat: Qobeyat
− For Wadi Khaled: Chadra

IV.1.3 Urban structure in Beqaa and Baalbeck-Hermel

The group Beqaa + Baalback-Hermel is today the area with the lowest urbanization
rate: only 34% of the population of the Beqaa live in the two major agglomerations,
Zahle-Chtaura and Baalbeck. This proportion of “city dwellers” is likely to increase
because of tertiary activities and industrialization, but in reasonable rates. In 2030,
especially with the strengthening of the metropolis of balance of Zahle-Chtaura-Qab
Elias and the expected tourism boom of Baalbeck, the proportion of the inhabitants of
major agglomerations could exceed 40%.

Despite the urban development, the majority of the population of the Beqaa and
Baalbeck-Hermel will continue residing, in 2030, mainly in small cities and villages.
These towns will be organized, for the local life, around 11 relay cities:
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− For the region of Hermel-Qasr-Fissane: Hermel

− For the region of Ras-Baalback: Laboue
− For the region of Deir-el-Ahmar Yammoune: Deir-el-Ahmar
− For the Beqaa center West :Chmistar
− For the Beqaa center East: Brital
− For the region of Rayak: Rayak
− For the region extending from Bar-Elias to Masnaa: Majdel-Anjar1
− For the region extending from Kamed-el-Laouz to Qaraoun: Joub-Jannine
− For the region extending from Aammiq to Aitanite: Saghbine
− For the region extending from Machghara to Maydoune: Machghara
− For the region of Rachaya: Rachaya

Among these different relay-cities, the development of Hermel in the North will be
given particular attention, given the economic and social difficulties that the entire
Caza is experiencing.

IV.1.4 Urban structure in the South and Nabatiyeh

The South consists of three major agglomerations: Saida, a harbor-city between the
South and Beirut; Tyre, a patrimonial city with a remarkable natural and agricultural
framework; and Nabatiyeh, the dynamism of which continues and is expected to play
an even more important role in the future.

In total, these three agglomerations gather 44% of the resident population of the two
Mohahafazas of the South2. This proportion is expected to rise up to 48%3 due to the
increase in tertiary works and industrialization.

The balance between the three poles of the South should be assured by a distribution
of complementary functions: trade in Saida, tourism in Tyre and higher education in
Nabatiyeh. It is also important to reinforce particularly the pole of Nabatiyeh in order
to alleviate urban pressure along the coast. It would be more adequate to locate a
major industrial zone of national interest, mid-way between these three poles, at
Zahrani eventually supported by a commercial port.

Rural and summer holiday areas of the South will be organized locally around 12
relay cities:

1
The city of Bar-Elias, which has been significantly developed the last few years, has become the most
important on the Beirut-Damascus axis. Nevertheless, it is located in a flood prone area, in the middle
of the agricultural plain: this is why Majdal-Anjar has been selected as relay city instead of Bar-Elias.
2
This proportion is however around only 30%, if Palestinian camps should be excluded.
3
Around 33% Palestinian camps excluded.
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− For the region of Hasbaya: Hasbaya

− For the region of Marjaayoun: Marjaayoun and Khiyam
− For the region of Kfarkila-Aadaysseh: Kfarkila
− For the region of Jezzine: Jezzine
− For the coastal zone between Saida and Tyre: Sarafand
− For the plateau of Nabatiyeh, between Nabatiyeh and Zahrani: Insar
− For the hinterland of Tyre: Jouaya
− For the region of Cana: Cana
− For the region of Bent Jbayl: Bent Jbayl and Tebnine
− For the region of Naqoura: Naqoura

IV.1.5 Urban structure in Greater Beirut + Mount Lebanon

Central Urban Area

The term “Central Urban Area” is used to designate an urban entity composed of 3
concentric spaces:

− The city of Beirut;

− The first ring: between Dbaye and Khaldeh, below 400 m of altitude; it is the
remaining part of “Greater Beirut”;
− The second ring: it consists of the agglomerations of Jounieh, Bikfaya,
Broummana, Aaley and Damour.

This urban entity constitutes, and will more in the future, an integrated functional
unity requiring coherent solutions in all domains: transportation, sewage, solid waste,
green spaces, etc…

Beirut and the first ring

The group of Beirut + First ring, which accounts nowadays 1.3 million residents, is
indisputably the economic, social, cultural and political center of Lebanon. It is the
main place where most activities are concentrated: commercial, financial operations,
transport, industry, tourism, hotels, general and higher education services, cultural
creativity, government administration, and headquarters of political authorities and
diplomatic councils. It is also the center of transportation and transition in the country,
due to the Port of Beirut, the Beirut International Airport located in the southern
suburbs, and the highways to the North, East and South that link the center to all other
Lebanese regions, to Syria and therefrom to all other countries of the region.

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This “main region” will keep on playing a primary role in the forthcoming Lebanon,
despite the efforts of re-balancing in favor of other regions. The objective would be to
search for quality rather than quantity: organize the existing functions better, earn
competitiveness among the major metropolis of the Near East, and enhance the
structure and conditions of life.

The second ring

The main challenge for the Central Urban Area is to organize the second ring to
accommodate the future demographic and urban growth of the whole Central Urban
Area.

It would be convenient to strengthen the urban poles of this second ring to play a role
of relay-cities in these half-urban and half-rural regions. This role will be allocated to
the following cities:

− For the coastal zone of Kesrouane: Jounieh

− For middle Kesrouane: Aajaltoun
− For the upper northern Matn: Bikfaya
− For the upper southern Matn: Broummana
− For the region of Baabda: Baabda
− For the upper Aaley: Aaley
− For the coastal zone of Aaley: Aaramoun
− For the coastal zone of Damour: Damour

Small coastal agglomerations: Jbayl-Aamchit and Barja-Chehim

Beyond the second ring of the Central Urban Area, Mount Lebanon includes two
other important agglomerations: in the North, the agglomeration of Jbayl-Aamchit
and in the South the agglomeration of Barj-Chehim-Jiyeh.

The agglomeration of Jbayl can be considered as the gate that separates the central
urban area from all the North of the country. Jbayl is also the chef-lieu of the area that
plays an important role in its relations with the villages the Caza of Jbayl, as well as
those of the neighboring Caza of Batroun; it is also a dynamic city, regrouping
various activities and functions (trade, services, tourism, agriculture market, industry,
etc.). It is thus, essential that the extension of the Central Urban Area towards the
North would not affect the identity of Jbayl. This requires managing the urban
agglomerations in the south of the city, by creating a natural separation zone to limit
the city’s expansion.

The agglomeration of Barja-Chehim is less organized: it is the result of a quasi-

continuous urban sprawl on the axis that starts from the coast up to Chehim, as well as
the equally important expansion of Barja; the two tending to join along the coastal
line as well as in higher areas. This agglomeration is currently being constituted. It
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should get additional attention from the Authorities to encourage the establishment of
new activities and structure the urban growth in a proper way.

Rural regions of Mount Lebanon

Rural regions of Mount Lebanon are located on the hills, overlooking the central
urban area and the agglomerations of Jbayl-Aamchit and Barja-Chehim. They are the
hills of Jbayl, Kesrouane, higher Matn, higher Nahr Beirut valley (Caza of Baabda),
Bhamdoun (higher Nahr Damour valley) and higher Chouf. These regions are
relatively less populated than others – their permanent residents represent less than
15% of Beirut + Mount Lebanon.

They would need specific policies to stabilize their population offering all year round
activities and avoiding their transformation into “dormitories”. As in the other
Mohafazas, this policy requires the support of many relay-cities, in terms of services
and facilities. The proposed relay cities for these regions are five:

− For the upper or Nahr Ibrahim: Qartaba

− For the upper mountain of Kesrouane: Mayrouba
− For Bhamdoun: Bhamdoun
− For the upper Chouf: Beiteddine and Baaqline.

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IV.2 INTEGRATING ALL REGIONS INTO THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC

DEVELOPMENT

Since all sectors of the economy are currently confronted with international
competition, the aim should be to integrate the activities of all cities and regions into
the heart of the economic system.

This implies necessarily that strong service and industrial centers should emerge in
different regions, other than the only Central Urban Area. Important agglomerations
in the North, South and East, would have priority in benefiting from this policy.

Associating all the regions to the national economic development is valid not only for
industrial activities, commerce, and office service activities, but also, for tourism,
which still remains excessively concentrated within Beirut, Jbayl, Jounieh,
Broummana, Aaley and Bhamdoun. A tourism project, covering the whole of the
Lebanese localities, with all regions having something to offer and a benefit to gain,
should also be put into action.

In general, the works on development of rural regions should be equal to that of large
cities. Villages would not be able to compete with the cities due to the absence of
certain economic and social functions that require the proximity of a large and dense
clientele, or depend upon the concentration of enterprises acting in concordance with
each other. However, villages can offer services that cities do not have, mainly those
related to the quality of their life and their environment; thus villages should emphasis
this advantage to attract additional income.

IV.2.1. Organizing the distribution of activities within the Central Urban

Area

The Central Urban Area has the essential national and international tertiary functions
of the country. It is also the place of concentration of industry and most of tourism
activities. Within this important zone, the stake lies in organizing the distribution of
those functions: financial center, business centers, port and airport activities, large
scale trade, central administrations, hotel sector, industries, etc.

A moderate and mostly qualitative growth of these functions should be sought. But, in
no way should the growth of this center be accomplished at the expense of other
alternative territorial choices.

An organization to be completed

Organization of the central functions in the capital region has greatly progressed due
to the projects launched in the 1990’s, namely the modernization of Beirut Port,
Beirut down-town, reconstruction of the airport, improvements of the road network
and local developments as noticed in the peripheral centers, namely Jounieh, Zouk,
Aaley and elsewhere.

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Other projects can complete this organization. Some are already planned such as the
development of the Hadath university campus or the development of public facilities
at Bir Hassan or even the development of the touristic activities along the southern
coast within the framework of the Elyssar project.

Establishing office centers

Other projects may also be usefully explored in the tertiary services sector such as the
development of offices district at strategic locations that were identified by the
National Physical Master Plan for the region of Greater Beirut: Nahr El Mot,
Hazmiyeh, Khaldeh… Within this perspective, it is worth rethinking the concept of
suburbs considering it as a central axis structuring the metropolitan area, rather than a
passageway of the transit traffic.

Redeployment of industrial activities

Concerning the industries, an important work of putting things back in order is

necessary to reduce the damages and dangers resulting from certain industries
established within the heart of inhabited neighborhoods or in their immediate
surroundings. This reorganization work should be an opportunity to modernize the
industrial sector by creating new and modern zones of activities. However, abolishing
certain old industrial areas might also help in adopting a policy for equipping
surrounding neighborhoods as well as a more ambitious housing policy targeting
young households.

Diversification of the activities in the second ring

Economic activities of the cities and villages of the “second ring” are strongly based
on tourism and leisure: Aaley, Broummana, Bikfaya, Jounieh are important tourism
and summer vacation centers. However, other activities, diversifying job offers and
income sources are also present, such as industry (Zouk) or service in the sectors of
education, health…. This diversification should be encouraged while avoiding the
alteration of tourism potential in these regions, which remains their important
economic asset.

Finding solutions for the transportation sector

Economic activities in the Central Urban Area might be seriously impeded by road
traffic congestion problems. It is also important, in the interest of the economy of
Beirut, to propose creative and modern solutions to this major challenge, particularly
through reorganizing the outdated public transportation system, which currently
accentuates the road congestion instead of reducing it4.

4
Multiplying means of public transportation of limited capacity has negative effects of the road
congestion. The current service is characterized by its social effects (transportation at low prices,
income distributed to a high number of personnel). A more efficient public transportations service
should be based on vehicles (buses or trains) of greater capacity with less authorized stop points.
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Controlled Development of Tourism in the High Mountains

At the periphery of the Central Urban Area, natural and rural regions of the high lands
(high lands of Kesrouane, Matn, Baabda, Aaley and Chouf) can benefit from the
proximity of the large pool of job opportunities offered by large agglomerations as
well as from activities they could develop starting from their own potential,
essentially in the fields of tourism (in all its forms: summer vacation, hotel industry,
winter sports, cultural tourism, eco-tourism), services and local trades. They will also
be able to continue to exploit their agricultural potential, whether it is the orchards in
high mountains, garden vegetables in the lowlands, or intermediary agriculture where
the diversity of the altitude levels allows a large spectrum of agricultural varieties.

Within these rural regions surrounding the Central Urban Area, the relay-cities will
play an essential role in the services and trade sectors. These cities will benefit from
the establishment of public administrations as well as educational and health facilities.

IV.2.2 Giving the North and Tripoli a place of choice in the maritime
transportation, industry, tourism, international fairs and higher
education

Most of public efforts over the coming years should be concentrated in the North and
Akkar, to rectify an economical and social situation, which is among the most
alarming of the country.

Naturally, the effort should be directed towards cities as well as villages. But the
North will have fewer chances to benefit from a real economic take-off if its urban
heart, the agglomeration of Tripoli, does not acquire in the first place sufficient
dynamism.

A particular effort for Tripoli

The development of the agglomeration of Tripoli should be accomplished in an

orderly way, tackling all sectors within a project framework .

The Port of Tripoli should not only be rehabilitated and modernized, but should
benefit from a strategic decision to give it the exclusivity of transports of freight
towards and from Iraq and Syria. By putting back in the railroad service to Syria (and
later on to Beirut) which necessitate improving the roads towards the border on one
hand and Beirut on the another, Tripoli might be able to develop an important
function of freight transport. This function should be strengthened by the provision of
warehouses and adequate logistic zones.

The industrial development of the capital of the North should also be a priority. It can
benefit from the presence of the port and communication roads, the development of
the power generation site, the competitive prices of industrial lands as well as the
local industrial traditions.

However, Tripoli and its agglomeration should mostly rely on the development of its
trade and services. And, in this context, Tripoli possesses real assets, which are worth

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emphasizing. It is particularly convenient to insist on the development of the city’s

image of openness both on the symbolic and functional levels.

The activity of international fairs might be developed once again if the national will to
give back the priority to Tripoli in this matter is regained. This development would
require some investments and vigorous promotional action. This action could be
centered on products of the manufacturing industry.

Tripoli also deserves, because of the demographic weight that the North represents, to
become a complete university center. Faculties of the Lebanese University might be
completely relocated there, hence receiving students coming from all over Lebanon.

Tourism might bring an additional noticeable income to the city and its region.
Constructed around the exceptionally-built heritage of the city, its culinary traditions,
crafts and musical traditions and the very beautiful sea façade of el Mina, and as a
starting point towards the natural summer vacation destinations to all North Lebanon,
the tourism project of Tripoli should ultimately lead to the development of the hotel
management sector, at least for short stays.

The project of the overall economic development of the agglomeration of Tripoli

needs to be followed-up by a local development agency. It should be conducted in
parallel with the project of social development in Lebanon and raising the level of
urban services in order to reach an equal standard to that of Beirut.

The expected dynamism in the North and Akkar

A renewed dynamism of Tripoli will give a new start to the entire economy of the
North and Akkar. Rural regions, better connected with the capital of the North, and
also with Beirut and the Beqaa, will be able to develop complementary activities to
those of the Capital Beirut.

These regions have undisputed assets to do so: other than the agricultural wealth of
Akkar and Koura, which might be the very basis for the development of modern food
processing industries, the North has important and diverse assets related to tourism,
which are mostly under-exploited: a valuable sea façade between Tripoli and Jbayl;
Qornet Saouda’s snow covered slopes (winter sports); forests and natural wealth of all
the mountain (summer vacation, eco-tourism); pilgrimage sites (holy valley of
Qadisha); striking villages and splendid landscapes; etc.

Emphasizing these assets needs local development projects, concurrently with what is
taking place in the agglomeration of Tripoli, within the framework of “opportunities
of life”: the “Batroun countryside”, the upper valley of Nahr el-Jaouz, the valley of
Qadisha, Amioun and Koura, the region of Danniyeh, Halba and the Akkar plain, the
upper Akkar, the region of Qobeyate, the region of Wadi Khaled…

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IV.2.3. Giving a new boost to the two large metropolis of balance: Zahle-
Chtaura and Nabatiyeh

Straight after the North and Akkar, the priority for economic development should be
given to the two “metropolis of balance”, which are the agglomerations of Zahle-
Chtaura and Nabatiyeh.

These two agglomerations have in common their geographic location; they both are in
the hinterland of the East and the South of the country. Their development would
allow reducing the pressure exerted on the coastline.

This development should be conceived based on the traditions of these

agglomerations: agricultural, commercial and administrative. However, it should also
include a part of voluntarism, which would allow them to have a higher rate of growth
and development.

Giving these agglomerations the status of major centers requires strong measures: a
new distribution of the branches of the Lebanese University, all faculties should be
located only within the campuses of these two agglomerations; installation of several
consular bodies (Syndicates, Chambers, etc.); lead projects, such as giving the label of
the capital of food processing industry of the country to Zahle-Chtaura and the label
of some other kind of activities, such as culture, publication, environment, etc., to
Nabatiyeh.

In parallel, incentives should be given to the industrialists to encourage them to settle

near these two agglomerations.

Zahle-Chtaura

The agglomeration of Zahle-Chtaura has strong assets. The required public

intervention should be prospected towards space organization and decentralization of
governmental functions. Road works, mainly the separation of local and transit traffic
in Chtaura, urban planning (development of the North-East sector), logistic and
industrial settlements, and regulations related to sewage and solid waste, would allow
giving a new boost to this agglomeration that could be further supported by the
existence of a university campus with complete faculties.

Additionally, establishing a modern industrial zone towards Rayak, half-way between

Zahle and Baalbeck, and well linked to the road network and with a good access to
the railroad to Damascus, would constitute a motivating project and would bring a
real increase in job opportunities and wealth to this entire region.

The development of the central agglomeration of the Beqaa will bring further
dynamism to all the Mohafaza. The rural regions would indirectly benefit from the
development of Zahle-Chtaura by developing their own potential, generally founded
on their exceptional quality of life – mainly in the West Beqaa and Rachaya. Support
for summer vacation and tourism development, trade and local services, as well as
agriculture will certainly follow.

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The development of the large agglomeration should in-effect allow the preservation of
the rural character of regions located in the periphery. West Beqaa could remain a
peaceful region with its splendid sceneries of large agricultural lands and the Qaraoun
Lake, where a moderate tourist activity could be developed concurrently with
diversifying activities mainly centered in the important small cities of Machghara,
Saghbine, and Joub-Janine. These small cities could host primary service industrial
activities, health and education services, as well as small non-polluting industries. The
group of cities and villages of this Caza should also benefit from job opportunities,
which would be created in Zahle and Chtaura due to a more efficient transportation
network.

The same logic should prevail for the region of Rachaya. Organized around the city of
Rachaya, this region might witness a development and dynamism of its activities due
to better road links with Hasbaya and the South on one hand, and with Masnaa, the
Syrian border and Zahle-Chtaura on the other. Ultimately, Rachaya will be able to
develop its major tourism asset, which is Mount Hermon.

Nabatiyeh

The agglomeration of Nabatiyeh, another “metropolis of balance”, does not benefit

from similar assets, that exist in the case of Zahle-Chtaura. The fact of giving it the
status of “metropolis of balance” is a voluntary decision, and it will take a lot of
efforts to bring up this city to the desired level. Nabatiyeh has already the status of the
administrative center of the Mohafaza. It is also an active commercial center, as well
as medical (5 hospitals of which 1 is public), social (about 20 institutions), cultural
and educational services center. Industries are still underdeveloped (mainly
metalwork and BTP) as well as tourism and leisure. The development of Nabatiyeh
requires diverse efforts aiming at attracting enterprises and improving the
attractiveness of the standard of life. Urban planning and improvement of
infrastructure facilities will be most decisive.

The establishment of a large industrial zone in Zahrani, at the crossroads between

Saida, Nabatiyeh and Tyre, should be accompanied by launching housing projects in
Nabatiyeh to encourage the settlement of the young industrial workforce in this
“metropolis of balance” rather than the coastline.

The development of Nabatiyeh, in parallel to the development guidelines adopted for

Saida and Tyre (discussed hereafter) will reinforce the economic situation of South-
Lebanon as a whole. The improvement of the road link Zahrani-Nabatiyeh-
Marjaayoun-Hasbaya-Masnaa, and the improvement of the secondary road links
between Bent Jbayl and Nabatiyeh on one hand and Tyre on the other, will contribute
to this objective.

Outside of the three major agglomerations of the South, the cities and villages will
exploit at their best their own potential, based on local services, tourism and the offer
of high standard housing near the centers of job opportunities.

The regions of Marjaayoun, Khiam, Rihane and Hasbaya will profit from the
dynamism that would be created in Nabatiyeh, and from the substantial improvements

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proposed by the road link between Nabatiyeh (in fact, starting from the coast) and
Masnaa, going through Marjayoun and Hasbaya. Other than the local development
projects conceivable within these regions (small food processing industries, diverse
services, summer vacation…), they could also benefit from the flow of people and
goods, which may develop on this itinerary. Ultimately, the reopening of links
towards Qoneitra and Palestine would provide the region of Marjaayoun with
opportunities for commercial development.

IV.2.4 Basing the economic activity of Saida and Jbayl on the flow of
people and goods

Jbayl and Saida have a particular geographic position. They are near the Central
Urban Area but not truly part of it. These two cities would act as “gate cities” that
separate the Central Urban Area from the remaining parts of the country. Saida is the
access point of Beirut towards the South and vice versa. Jbayl is the access point of
Beirut towards the North and vice versa.

Each of these cities will be able to take advantage from this situation, which relies on
the flow of people and goods at the entries of the Central Urban Area. The tourist and
commercial functions could be supported by an important logistic role, such as
vegetable production and storage, warehousing and transportation of industrial goods.

Saida

Saida has many assets: its status as the administrative center of the Mohafaza; and
well developed commercial functions, sea front historical heritage, and culinary
traditions, make it a major tourist destination. It is also accessible to the agricultural
activities of South-Lebanon… However, the city might suffer from its proximity to
Beirut (less than half an hour), both on the economic as well as cultural and leisure
levels. Saida has therefore every interest to develop its specific assets, its tourist
functions and, most importantly, its commerce, including fish and agricultural
products.

This requires emphasizing the city’s assets: its sea façade, its historical heritage,
souks, crafts, public services, agricultural plain, etc.

The industrial development of the agglomeration, mainly noticeable in the South of

the city, should be better managed. The proposal of the National Physical Master Plan
to create a national industrial zone of interest towards Sarafand might constitute an
opportunity to reorganize the existing activities in Ghaziyeh.

Saida possesses also an important residential potential with its prime sites overlooking
the sea and which already host important real estate residential developments. The
preservation of this asset requires good management of the prospects and the
scenaries, mainly the safeguarding of buffers between the hills and the lower city as
well as a good regulation of the building heights on the foothills to preserve this
beautiful view of the greeneries.

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Saida hinterland, between the coast and Jezzine, can develop activities mainly linked
with summer vacation areas. With the expected demographic growth in Saida, it is
possible to conceive more ambitious projects in terms of leisure activities offered to
the population over the foothills. However, above 900 to 1000 meters of altitude, it is
less probable that activities other than summer holidays and local services might take
place. The city of Jezzine would then be the main beneficiary, due to its
administrative and commercial role.

Jbayl

Jbayl’s situation is similar to that of Saida. Although, it has a smaller population, the
city has stronger assets in tourism (Phoenician and Roman ruins, beaches, old
neighborhoods…), and a zone of commercial attraction extending all over the Caza
and beyond.

Jbayl’s main threat is the even greater proximity to the Central Urban Area, which is
extending northward. If the current urbanization rate continues, it would reach Nahr
Ibrahim within the coming 20 to 30 years. Jbayl and its agglomeration, including
Aamchit, should defend their identity and remain independent cities rather than parts
of suburbs. To do so, Jbayl should more than ever develop its tourist and commercial
functions, including that of agricultural products.

Jbayl’s development should be accomplished through safeguarding its potential and

highlighting its value: it needs to avoid the temptation of land reclamation whose
damages are visible in many locations along the northern coastline: it needs to protect
the sandy beaches, the sea view from the archeological site, the old port and the old
town… This is what constitutes its assets, and its capital.

In the Jbayl hinterland, the industries on the near-by sites could be maintained and
strengthened, while respecting the protection of groundwater. The distant villages can,
on their part, develop activities related to summer vacations. The valley of Nahr
Ibrahim could also conceive developing activities entirely related to tourism due to its
impressive landscape value. However, this should be adequately controlled to avoid
altering its important landscape asset.

IV.2.5 Developing Baalbeck and Tyre based on their universally famous

heritage

The two cities of Baalbeck and Tyre host the two largest archeological sites of
Lebanon, both cited on the world heritage list. This asset as well as the geographic
location of the two cities allows their particular distinction as major heritage centers
of the country.

Other cities are also known for their archeological and heritage wealth, particularly
Jbayl and Saida, but also Tripoli and Beirut, and tens of other cities and villages.
These can fully benefit from this wealth, even if they haven’t been designated as
“major heritage centers” of the country. In fact, this distinction of Baalbeck and Tyre
should be the dominant orientation to the development of both cities, something
which holds advantages but also constraints.

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Baalbeck and its region

Baalbeck owes its international fame to its exceptional archeological site. This
heritage wealth endows it with a considerable tourist attraction power. This should be
well exploited to the benefit of the inhabitants of the city and the region. The goal
should consist to make out of Baalbeck a hosting center for mass tourism, with short-
term lodging opportunities allowing visitors to cruise from Baalbeck, towards the
canyons of Aassi in Hermel, the sceneries and sites of Yammouneh and Ainata, the
Cedars, the restaurants of Zahle and the caves of Ksara, etc.

For such a project to succeed, the city of Baalbeck should solve a number of problems
related to urban services, be successful in developing links between the city and the
archeological site, preserve the outskirts of the archeological site, efficiently manage
traffic, parking and commerce – particularly the food commerce on public roads –,
attract hotel investors, organize its promotion with the tour-operators and develop its
image of openness.

All this should be conducted in parallel with strengthening of Baalbeck’s essential

functions as a major trade and services center in all of the North Beqaa, and as the
most important inhabited location in this entire region. Confirming its status as the
administrative center of a new Mohafaza would contribute attaining these objectives.

Baalbeck and the region of Baalbeck-Hermel should also benefit from the project of
establishing a large modern industrial zone around Rayak. The jobs, which will be
generated in this zone, added to those of trade, tourism and agriculture, will allow
keeping in the region the active youths who will soon find themselves in the work
market.

Beyond the center of Baalbeck, North Beqaa remains marked by the agricultural
activities that occupy a major status, an activity which should be further modernized
and further supported with appropriate projects: developing irrigation while taking
into consideration the soil’s fragility (drip irrigation being the most recommended in
the plain around the Aassi), in addition to a better management of marketing activities
related to agricultural industries management of pastures and resolving real estate
issues (distributing properties in shares), etc.

At the same time, it is important to introduce in this region other activities to diversify
and raise the income level of the inhabitants. Programs for local development of this
region have been studied. They provide a primary platform for work but show at the
same time the necessity of a stronger government commitment to help this territory to
come out of the social crisis that resulted from the eradication of illegal cultivations,
and whose effects persist. Development projects to be launched in the region should,
in all cases, consider its characteristic risk of “desertification”, that is now aggravated
by a poor management of natural resources caused precisely by the low level of
incomes.

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Tyre and its region

Tyre has tourist assets that are even more diverse than those of Baalbeck. Two
internationally known monumental Roman sites, a Phoenician history, an important
position within the history of Christianity, an open door to all heritage – Arab,
Crusades, Roman, religious – disseminated all over South-Lebanon, immaculate sand
beaches a preserved nature in the surroundings, a traditional picturesque port, etc.

All these elements endow Tyre considerable opportunities for tourism development.
Like Baalbeck, exploiting this potential necessarily goes through a series of
regulations to organize the urban environment and protect sites and increase
investment in hotel, in addition to development of media. Concurrently, Tyre will be
able to continue developing its other activities, particularly trade and services, in the
context of its hinterland and its required services.

Tyre hinterland has precisely enough assets to benefit from results of reinforcing the
economic activities of Tyre itself. Its historical remains are very numerous and some
are gaining popularity such as Cana’s or the citadel of Tebnine. Likewise, the
preserved nature of the countryside of Naqoura and the characteristic landscapes of
the “Hills of the South” are additional tourist attractions.

The South has also other assets, as demonstrated by the example of Bent Jbayl, a city
of trade, industry and services, which has recovered its dynamism shortly after the
end of the occupation. In the surrounding cities and villages, the irrigation water
supply project through the conveyor 800 will allow the increase of agricultural
income and the visible improvement of living conditions.

IV.2.6 Diversifying income resources of rural area

If the economic prosperity of the regions primarily depends upon the dynamism of its
large agglomerations, it is equally important to conduct specific local development
projects for the rural regions, where one out of three Lebanese resides all year long
(and also one Lebanese out of two in summer weekends). The increase of the income
resources of permanent residents in rural areas could be achieved through the
diversification of those resources.

Knowledge of the history of rural areas and their evolution are essential factors for
appropriate future planning.

Historically, rural areas were the dominating place of residence and work in Lebanon.
The sources of income of this rural Lebanese society were essentially agriculture and
crafts.

By mid of 19th century, cities began to prosper commercially due to improvement of

communication means, and the increased opportunity of new services related to
education, health, teaching, and leisure. The urban way of life started developing. The
prosperity of cities, the attraction of their way of life and the reduction of the demand
for agricultural labor due to mechanization led, as in many countries, to a massive
rural exodus. This was slow at the beginning, but accelerated because of the important

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difference in income between the agricultural world and the world of the large city –
mainly Beirut. This was very well described in the IRFED mission reports at the
beginning of the 1960’s.

The rural exodus has undoubtedly reached its peak in the 1960’s and the 1970’s, with
the economic growth and the prosperity of industry, services and trade in the large
cities and in particular in Beirut. The war period had then a contradictive effect. On
one hand, many displaced from the villages in the South and Mount Lebanon sought
refuge in Beirut’s suburbs along the North (Matn and Kesrouane) and South (Baabda
and Aaley) and, on the otherhand, the battles in the capital favored some economic
development in the peripheral regions.

The end results of that the period 1970 to 1997 showed a larger concentration of the
population in the cities, as indicated in the following table.

Table 19: Resident population per size of agglomeration in 1970 and in 1997

Size of Agglomerations 1970 1997

Less than 1 000 inhabitants 391 440 18.41% 259 840 6.50%
1 000 to 2 000 246 945 11.61% 285 730 7.14%
2 000 to 5 000 187 260 8.81% 481 830 12.05%
5 000 to 10 000 68 415 3.22% 313 730 7.84%
10 000 to 100 000 136 005 6.40% 330 830 8.27%
More than 100 000 1 096 260 51.56% 2 328 040 58.20%
Total Lebanon 2 126 325 100.00% 4 000 000 100.00%
Source: CAS, 1970 and 1997

In 1970, more than 30% of the population was still living (permanent residence – all
year long) in localities with less than 2000 inhabitants. This proportion has fallen to
less than 14% in 1997.

In 1970, 58% of the population was already living in localities of more than 10 000
inhabitants. This proportion has risen to more than 64% in 1997 (of which more than
62% in agglomerations of more than 40 000 inhabitants).

The rural area is now at the second phase of its history: rural exodus – in the classical
meaning of the word – is now complete, and the ways of life of cities and countryside
have become quite similar. However, the rural area has not yet found a replacement
solution allowing it to ensure a sustainable economic and social development.
Lebanese villages now live with modest resources that generally come from:

- Public servants, salaries (local public servants, teachers, employments in the

army);
- “Mandatory missions” of people originally from the village but not residing in
it: supervision of plowing and harvest, surveillance of construction sites, etc.
- Financial transfers from relatives living in the city or abroad;
- Retirement pensions;
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- Regular sale of inherited real estate properties; and

- Accessorily: agricultural incomes5.

Some people in each village gain their income from specific service activities: the
grocer, the taxi driver, etc. A small number of Lebanese villages benefit from more
important activities: industries, hotels and others.

For the future, means should be devised to maintain the social structure of the
Lebanese villages and to do so, sufficient income level should be ensured.

Lebanon isn’t the only country to have known the rural exodus and the drop of
income in rural areas. In many other countries, this evolution has occurred well before
the second half of the 20th century, and new evolutions have since then taken place in
which rural areas have found a new dynamism.

This new dynamism has been achieved through the passage to a new development
phase, based upon the diversification of income sources. The most successful
experiences are those where the villages have succeeded in:

- Attracting new residents who work in the city but would rather live in the
nearby countryside, due to its proximity to major cities and to the quality of its
living standard;
- Attracting retired persons who would rather live in the countryside than the
city, due to its living standard quality;
- Attracting summer vacationers;
- Attracting tourists;
- Creating original activities totally related to the identity of the villages:
artisanal or industrial productions from natural products of the region, labels
of quality, etc.

Role of relay-cities in development of local and rural economy

The development of rural area cannot be considered independently from that of cities:
it should benefit from the dynamism of cities while putting forward its own specific
advantages.

5
While the rural world resident population represents a third of the population, agricultural income
barely represent 6% of the country’s gross income. Even more, the agricultural income only benefits a
minor fraction of the permanent inhabitants of the rural world, since the major exploitations, which are
well equipped and most profitable, are generally owned by persons residing in the big cities.

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The diffusion of the process development will be conceived through the articulation,
as per the hierarchy between the large agglomerations, a series of small cities or
important villages (relay-cities) and other localities of the rural areas.

It is important for rural areas not to be entirely dependent, for employment, trade and
services, on large agglomerations; but we should rather identify within each Mohafaza
some ten important localities that can ensure an efficient relay for these functions.

This same concern had prevailed in the 1960’s when the State had applied by decree
the policy of “development centers” that were to host primarily administrative, health
and education facilities.

The relay-cities as identified by the National Physical Master Plan should have
priority in the policies of economic development in rural environment. Administrative
and security functions, public services (including education and health) and trade
functions should be developed at a coherent level as per the needs of the regions.

Diffusing tourism development in all the country, particularly in the rural regions

Facing the challenge of globalization will necessarily lead to in depth restructuring of

the entire sectors of the national economy, with the threat of job losses accompanying
productivity in gains. One of the most appropriate measures to respond to this threat
is, undoubtedly, to develop tourism activities and income.

All Lebanese regions have, and that is a unique chance, a potential based on tourism,
which should be put into value and exploited.

Obstacles that make, internal tourism particularly shy and western tourism almost
inexistent, should be overcome. In fact, only Arab tourism (Gulf countries) and
summer vacation of a part of the diaspora have developed.

The obstacles related to the development of local tourism are numerous: some form of
a withdrawal inherited from the war, “territorial marks” closed on each other,
insufficient information about boarding offers, water and electricity problems, waste
problems and degradation of landscapes, etc. However, all these obstacles may be
overcome and their disappearance will contribute in the emergence of hosting services
corresponding to the demand, which would hence be freed.

As for the obstacles related to the development of occidental tourism, they are linked
to two major factors: the image of insecurity of all countries in the Near East and the
high level of costs (lodging, restaurants, transport, …) of Lebanon in comparison to
similar destinations. It is vital to tackle these problems of image and costs.

The development of tourism in all of the Lebanese regions, particularly in the rural
areas, is particularly important in order to diversify the villages’ and the small cities’
resources and to increase the income of their inhabitants.

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Succeeding in restructuring the Lebanese agriculture

The economic development of the peripheral regions depends upon successfully

restructuring the Lebanese agriculture under the effects of international competition.

Contrary to a preconceived idea, Lebanon has an important agricultural potential,

based on the quality of its soil, which is among the most fertile of the Middle East, on
the availability of water, on the know-how of farmers and on Lebanon’s commercial
traditions.

At all times, Lebanese agriculture adapts to external constraints where a number of

products managed to efficiently face competition. This is especially the case of
industrial crops and “fine” products of high added value. Also, the sectors of citrus,
fruits and market products face up to competition quite well.

Agricultural investments will naturally turn to more competitive products and will
succeed through adequate support of government policies.

These policies will no longer be customs protection policies or quotas (agricultural

calendar). They should be tackling more and more the general environment of
agricultural activities:

- Credit to investors;
- Organization of marketing networks;
- Cost reduction of agricultural inputs;
- Organization of commercialization circuits and commercial surveillance;
- Preservation of high productive agricultural lands;
- Land consolidation;
- Mechanization and introduction of new varieties and techniques;
- Agricultural research and improvement technologic;
- Irrigation; and
- Guidance programs and technical assistance to farmers.

The National Physical Master Plan identified clearly the best agricultural lands that
should be preserved as a priority for agriculture, while limiting the dilapidation of this
national capital through less productive uses, such as housing estates. It equally brings
coherence between the irrigation projects planned by the State and the lands that
should benefit from these projects.

Developing means of communication

The regional development in the era of globalization requires a modern and largely
diffused means of communication and information.
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Lebanon should catch up on a major delay in this matter. The capital itself is still not
equipped with adapted services, either for the digital communication through the
internet or for televisual communication via cable or satellite.

The situation of the peripheral regions has visibly a lower standard. Many cities and
villages do not possess the least of office equipment, photocopier, fax or computer,
whether connected or not to the internet.

The diffusion of networks and tools of modern communication is no more a luxury. In

today’s world, it has become an indispensable mean for commercial promotion of
local products, tourism promotion, communication between clients and suppliers,
research and education, publishing, sharing information…

Lebanon should improve its technological means and the rapidity of access and
diffusion of information. Progress has been made, but the essential remains to be
achieved.

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IV.3 UNIFYING THE TERRITORY THROUGH AN EFFICIENT

TRANSPORTATION NETWORK

Transportation plays a determining role in land management of the territory from two
points of view: they are essential for the national as well as social economic
development and they constitute a major factor of unification of the territory by
shortening the distances between cities and regions.

The transportation network adopted by the National Physical Master Plan has been
conceived to meet the above two objectives, taking into consideration the limited
resources of the State and the Municipalities. The private sector could undoubtedly
construct certain infrastructure and assure a number of profitable services, but the
main efforts in this sector remain the responsibility of the competent public
authorities. This demands going through a strict project selection procedure.

The Choices of primary importance in transportation

For many reasons, the choices in the transportation sector are of primordial
importance in land management. First of all, the infrastructures have a very high cost:
The Beirut-Damascus highway is estimated at US$ 1 billion; the complete
rehabilitation of the existing inter-urban roads is estimated at US$ 1.2 billion; the
project for the creation of a new deep seaport in the South would cost US$ 400
million; the cost of the reconstruction of the Beirut Airport has been roughly US$ 1
billion; and the reconstruction of the skeletal structure of Lebanon’s railways (Tripoli
to Tyre and Beirut-Damascus lines) could cost US$ 2 billion, and more if a complete
network is requested (coastal line, to the borders, Rayak line to the Syrian border in
the North, etc..).

Moreover, the choices of the transportation sector involve the future for a very long
term, for decades and even centuries. And even when transportation technologies
change, original infrastructure lines are often reutilized. The duration of feasibility
studies, decision process, necessary financing arrangements and duration of
construction are also expressed with decades rather than years.

The third major characteristic of the transportation infrastructures is the fact that they
play an important role in orienting the land use. Highway and railway lines have
always attracted investors, oriented economic development, and guided migration
flows. At a medium scale, the construction of inlet exchanges or railway stations
guided the establishment of enterprises and urban expansion. At the local scale, the
organization of road network, as well as the creation of bus stops for the public
transport, constitutes a necessary and often sufficient condition for economic
development and for construction.

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IV.3.1 The main orientations of the transportation sector

The orientations adopted by the National Physical Master Plan in the transportation
sector can be summarized as follows:

Five complementary and distinct aspects

The conception of the national transport network is based on the distinction between 5
different aspects:

1 . The means of transport for export, import and international transit: This
aspect requires solutions adapted to the volume of goods and to the locations
of exchange modes and places of destination.

2 . The inter-urban links: Efficient links must be assured between various town
and agglomerations of the country.

3 . The specific situation of the Central Urban Area (Beirut + Mount Lebanon):
With 2 million people, a port and an airport, a large concentration of tertiary
services and industrial activities, plus an integrated plan for urban transport
and transit is required. The main problem to deal with in this zone is the
congestion of traffic.

4 . The level of service of the Lebanese road network as an entity that leads to the
problem of rehabilitation and maintenance.

5 . The new local roads reserved for the expansion of cities and villages: Should
we wish to limit the linear extensions cities and villages along the inter-urban
roads, the offer for local roads is essential in order to orient urbanization
around the established localities.

The measures considered by the National Physical Master Plan are detailed in
accordance with the above-mentioned 5 aspects.

IV.3.2 Offering international services (import, export, transit, airport

services) of high quality

The economic development of Lebanon passes through the conservation and the
development of high-level logistic services at national and international scales. This
concerns especially ports, international roads and airports.

Airport services for passengers

There are nine airport runways in the country. But only the Beirut International
Airport (BIA) is in operation for civil services.

Created in 1954, the BIA had rapidly become the first in the region and succeeded in
keeping this rank until the outbreak of the Lebanese war in 1975. Between 1954 and

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1975, Beirut used to play a role of a hub for the Near and Middle East traffic, in
addition to the traffic from and to Lebanon. In 1974, the BIA had recorded 2.75
million passengers, equal at that time to, the traffic in Atatürk airport in Istanbul (13.5
million passengers in 1999) or Oslo airport (14 million today), and overtaking
Bangkok airport (25.6 million 1998). During the Lebanese war, the traffic of BIA
decreased significantly, to a minimum of 0.5 million passengers in 1984 and 0.2
millions in 1989.

The traffic is in constant increase since the end of the war in 1990 (more than 5% per
year during the last five years). In 2001, it has been slightly below the 1974 level
(2.45 million passengers in 2001 against 2.75 million in 1974) and should regain 1974
level in 2003 or 2004.

Around 40 airlines serve the BIA. The transit however accounts only for 3% of the
total passenger flow, while its share was 20% prior to the war.

The Beirut International Airport faces currently a tough competition in the region,
with many Near East capitals having developed their airport infrastructures during the
Lebanese war. Dubai has become the hub of the Gulf and Middle East. This airport is
served by 100 airlines and is linked to 102 destinations. It has exceeded the 15 million
passengers per year and nowadays deals with more than 0.7 million tons of goods.
Damascus, a relatively modest airport, recorded 3.2 million passengers in 2000, and
that of Aleppo 1.7 million. The airport of Larnaca in Cyprus (a country of less than 1
million people) counted 2.4 million passengers in 2000 and that of Amman 1.3
million.

After the war, in 1993, a Master Plan for the development of the BIA was prepared,
projecting the expansion of its facilities in 4 phases at 6, 9, 12 and 16 million
passengers per year, respectively.

The executed work since 1994 has resulted in an entirely modernized airport. A new
marine runway has been constructed on the west side and the east runway has been
rehabilitated, providing an overall capacity of 16 million passengers per year. The
new terminal that has replaced the old one, has a capacity of 6 million passengers per
year. Related facilities have been introduced, restored and/or extended.

The area between the new marine runway and the old west runway has been set for
the possible creation of a free zone over 31 hectares with 150,000 m2 of exploited
area. The implementation of this project has been postponed.

In theory, the new terminal should be sufficient for the next 10 to 15 years and the
runways for 30 to 40 years. The growth of the passengers’ traffic will first rely on the
tourist attractiveness of the country, in a large part on the local prices and on the
regional crises and airlines fair tickets. If Lebanon looks forward to become again an
important regional hub, many factors must be taken into account and this could take 2
to 3 decades.

As for the other runways of the country, the Government has considered the
rehabilitation and operation of two of them, Qleyaat and Rayak.

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The Qleyaat airport project, named the Airport of Rene Mouawad, in the North,
consists of a runway capable of receiving 1 million passengers and 200 000 tons of
freight per year. A free zone is planned over 45 hectares.

The Rayak airport project will have the same capacities, namely 1 million passengers
and 200 000 tons of freight annually. Its free zone is planned over 36 hectares.

No specific schedule has been set for the above projects, and their feasibility (for both
passengers traffic and freight issues) is not obvious.

The National Physical Master Plan recommends, in this matter, a conservative and
rational approach: the traffic in BIA should reach a satisfactory level of 7 to 8 million
passengers per year (triple of today’s figure) before going into other civil airport
projects in the country.

The airfreight

The airfreight is unlikely to play a major role (in volume not necessarily in value)
before 2030 in the transport of merchandises. The BIA has a current annual traffic
roughly above 60 000 tons, which is less than the traffic at the beginning of the civil
war (100 000 tons). This represents 1/10 of the Dubai traffic. The free zones and
freight airports projects of Qleyaat and Rayak, besides that their execution remains
uncertain, have limited chance of increasing the demand for transport.

It is thus more judicious, to exploit completely the capacities of BIA, considering the
amounts already invested in the airport (modernization of the east runway and
construction of the marine west runway) and which are currently under-exploited.

The situation of the freight in the Middle East

Before the civil war, Lebanon has played a major role in the transportation of goods to
the Middle East, benefiting from the advantages that were capitalized in capacity,
know-how and quality of service. The transit corresponded to almost 40% of the Port
of Beirut operations, and the export of goods by land and sea was almost half of
imports.

Since then, the situation has significantly changed, especially with the improvements
brought to transportation infrastructures and services (maritime, terrestrial and aerial)
in Jordan, Syria and the Gulf States.

The growing shares of imports of goods of Asian origin to the region and the
exponential increase of the Gulf States markets was translated by the use of the
maritime lines towards the ports of the Gulf (mostly Dubai). In these circumstances,
Lebanon receives often the goods conveyed to it specifically by land and which come
through the Gulf platforms.

Iraq, the main client for the goods transiting through the Mediterranean ports, has
been placed under embargo nearly since the end of the Lebanese war. The small

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remaining traffic with Iraq has been divided within the framework of the Lebanese-
Syrian agreement, granting the Lebanese ports 1/4 of the whole volume. The end of
the embargo in 2003 allowed the resumption of exchanges with Iraq, but the new
geopolitical situation put the Lebanese and Syrian ports in a very tough competition
with other ports in the region.

At the land transport level, an overall look at the Near East map shows that goods
transited between Europe and the large markets of the region have no interest in
crossing Lebanon; It is more effective to make use of the interior axes, especially the
North-South axis that crosses Damascus and Amman, and branches out towards the
East (Iraq and Gulf), the West (Lebanon, Palestine, Israel and Egypt) and South
(Saudi Arabia and Yemen), as well as the axis along the Turkish-Syrian border that
heads towards Baghdad and then to other Gulf States.

The coastal axis, congested by urbanization, would not compete with these two main
itineraries of international transit road network. It would rather have the vocation to
assure access to final destinations.

Volume of imported, exported and transited goods in Lebanon

It is important to distinguish imported and exported goods on one hand, and transited
goods on the other.

Lebanon produces few goods. The agriculture, water, energy and industrial sectors, in
other words primary and secondary sectors, represented barely more than 21% of the
Lebanese GDP at the end of the 1990’s and it is difficult to expect a significant
increase for the coming ten years. Hence, Lebanon imports much more goods than it
exports. The imports/exports ratio has changed with time, but it has extremely
degraded at the end of the civil war and its improvement is very slow. Currently, it is
about 10 to1, while it did not exceed 2.5 to1 before the civil war.

At the end, this situation is not viable and it is likely – and hopefully – that Lebanon
recovers rigorously its balance of trade to come closer to the pre-war ratio.

Currently, imports and exports of Lebanon represent (without the transit –

insignificant today) around 6 to 7 million tons per year that cross essentially the port
of Beirut. With the expected growth of GDP from 60% to 100% in 30 years, this
traffic will at least double. The experience shows however that the volume of
transported goods increases in general faster than the GDP. Hence, the National
Physical Master Plan adopted a volume of 20 million tons of imported/exported goods
in 2030.

As for the transit, the expectations are far less certain. It is important to remember that
the transit constituted, in the mid-1970’s, 40% of the volume of goods handled in the
port of Beirut. It is unlikely to regain this percentage, because of the competition of
the ports in other countries of the region and the increase of international land
transport. Hence, an optimistic – but nevertheless reasonable – forecast would predict
a ratio of 20% of overall transit in the whole country (of transit compared to the total

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volume). The transited goods would reach, according to this hypothesis, 5 million
tons, at its best, in 2030.

Taking into consideration the available capacities and those under development in the
ports of Beirut and Tripoli, as well as in Beirut Airport, the volume of transit
forecasted for Lebanon does not require any additional development in above ports
until 2030. The need to increase the capacities of these infrastructures could only
come from a massive and sustainable revival of transit, which seems unlikely today.

The ports of Lebanon

Maritime transport is the most economic (roughly 100 times less expensive than land
transport per tons x km) and it should therefore constitute a priority. Its costs have
nevertheless significantly increased by the introduction of terminal transportations,
carried out in Lebanon exclusively by land. The idea of Lebanon having several large
ports becomes interesting and realistic, in order to reduce the costs of the terminal
transportation.

Furthermore, it is appropriate to consider that the Lebanese ports would be handling

the main traffic of import, export and transit. Their cumulated capacity should allow a
handling capacity of more than 20 million tons of goods in 2030.

The port of Beirut, the traffic of which varies considerably according to the
economic situation, has a significant large capacity and is currently under-exploited
(around 5 million tons of traffic). It has been recently rehabilitated and modernized
(there are still ongoing works for US$ 150 million). It possesses 10.4 hectares of free
zone.

The port of Tripoli, which will be rehabilitated soon (for a relatively low cost: US$
50 million), should constitute a priority for handling the transit traffic from Iraq. This
vocation is justified by the fact that land access from Tripoli towards other Arab
countries is the easiest, due to the Homs passage, and that a railway is also expected
between Tripoli and the Syrian and regional railway network. The current traffic of
Tripoli port (0.7 million tons) could considerably increase, and this would contribute
to the revival of the economy of the North.

The ports of South Lebanon could have opportunities for development due to the
fact that they potentially control the roads towards Palestine and Jordan. Nevertheless,
even in case of the Near East conflict resolution, the potential of these ports will be
affected by the high competition of Haifa and Aqaba. Furthermore, the location of the
ports for high tonnage vessels causes serious difficulties in Saïda as well as in Tyre. It
will be more appropriate, in principle, to consider with caution the possibilities of
increasing the ports capacities in the South. However, in case this increase is to occur,
it will be appropriate to consider a new port mid-way between the two cities of Saida
and Tyre, using the Nabatiyeh highway towards Qonaitra.

The port infrastructure facilities seem to have been extensively initiated in Beirut or
being done in Tripoli. The main effort should be carried on the quality of the offered
services in those ports, which implies:

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− Simplification and speed of formalities (the time spent in ports constitutes a

major part of the maritime transport cost);

− An improvement in the services offered to the vessels as well as to the carrier,

especially relying on maximum automation;

− The development of containers service (which presumes equally an adaptation

of trucks and eventually wagons if the railway is reconstructed) and “ro-ro”
service (roll on - roll off); and

− Carrying out clearance tasks by a single agent for the whole chain from its
starting point to destination.

The adoption of the above procedures would then allow the ports of Lebanon to
compete with the neighboring ports of the region.

Land transportation of goods

Half of the Lebanese exports is currently carried out by land transportation, while
import and transit traffic by land occupy a less important role. The international road
traffic concerns first of all the Near and Middle East countries. Its development
encounters, besides the weaknesses of the road network, the slow process of
formalities at the borders and elsewhere. Its cost is very high, exceeding 18% (and up
to 45%) of the transported goods value, while this ratio remains below 5% in the
developed countries.

This high cost, the noise and the pollution generated by land transportation of goods
as well as the deterioration of the road network (a truck causes damages to the
pavement much more than a regular car), do not encourage this type of transportation.
However, this latter is unavoidable in Lebanon for attracting the transit traffic towards
Lebanese ports, an essential need for the economic development.

On the other hand, it is advisable to reduce to the maximum the transit of trucks, for
which Lebanon is neither the origin nor the destination. This traffic presents all the
above-mentioned inconveniences and does not bring any positive economic benefits.

Also, the responses that the road could provide to the needs of international
transportation of goods consist, above all, in properly linking the Lebanese ports to
the centers of consumption and production of the country (especially the large
agglomerations), and optionally to regional road and railway networks.

Transportation of goods by railway

The development of a railway network could not be justified only for cargo
transportation, except for specific point-to-point links, because of the competition of
land transportation, which is purely more efficient and flexible.

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However, Lebanon has interest to put back into service a minimum of a railway
network to assure specific cargo transportation. Despite the high cost of renovation of
the railway network, the National Physical Master Plan considered this perspective, in
particular for the connection between Tripoli and the Syrian railway network. In fact,
this connection could reinforce the transit role expected for the Tripoli port and could
be extended along the coast towards Beirut, and even beyond in order to serve
passenger traffic (see section on mass transportation) and not that of goods.

The logistic centres for freight

The main logistic centres of the country are located within the ports and the airport
premises. They allow to unload the commodities from the vessels into trucks and
vice-versa, and to store them while waiting for their clearance.

Nevertheless, more modest centres are required, intended for loading/unloading of

industrial and agricultural products in storage zones. The National Physical Master
Plan proposed, to that effect, the creation of a logistic centre connected to the three
major industrial zones planned in Tripoli-Beddaoui, Zahle and Zahrani, that could
equally serve as storage and unloading zones for the agricultural products of Akkar,
Beqaa and the South.

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Figure IV.4. Principles of transportation of goods

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IV.3.3 Secure strong connections between cities

Economic efficiency and reinforcement of unity of territory require a network of

inter-urban connections capable of assuring the best means of movement possible in
adequate conditions of security and respecting the environmental concerns.

The National Physical Master Plan has set up the objective that in 2030, no important
locality (relay city) would be more than 100 minutes away from Beirut, no secondary
agglomeration would be more than 60 minutes away from Beirut, and no relay city
would be more than 30 minutes away from a major agglomeration.

Taking into consideration these objectives, as well as the financial constraints, the
considered road plan for 2030 is presented as follows:

1. A highway connection between Beirut and Tripoli, extended to the northern

border and tangent to Halba: this highway should be absolutely protected
from any construction along its sides. In this case Tripoli would be at 60 minutes
or less from Beirut. The access to Halba has the objective of reducing the time-
distance between Tripoli and Akkar as well as Tripoli and Hermel. The highway
must be placed at the foothill between the plain and the hills of Akkar, and not
in the middle of the plain. It might be extended afterwards towards Aabboudiyeh
to be connected to the Syrian and regional highway network.

2. A highway connection between Beirut and the agglomeration of Zahle-

Chtaura-Qab Elias, extended to the eastern border. This “Arab highway” is
a priority, given the fact that it resolves the capacity problems of the Aaley and
Dahr el-Baydar road, and connects the capital to the city of Zahle in less than 40
minutes, and the Lebanese highway network to the Syrian and regional network.

3. A highway connection between Beirut and Tyre: it is already constructed

until the city of Saksakiyeh and is being extended to Tyre. Due to this highway,
it will be possible to connect Beirut to Tyre in less than 60 minutes.

4. A highway connection between Zahrani and Marjayoun: this link is

currently assured by a high-speed road to Nabatiyeh, the borders of which
should be managed in order to secure total fluidity of traffic. Its extension
should be planned beyond Nabatiyeh towards Marjayoun, and subsequently
towards Qoneitra and the regional highway network. In fact, this connection
should assure not only rapid access to Nabatiyeh, but also traffic of goods from
and towards the ports of the South and the industrial zone of Zahrani.

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5. High speed connections (in general 2 x 2 roads) to complete the main

network. This type of link is proposed for:

- The connection Zahle-Hermel passing through Baalbeck: This should

connect Zahle to Hermel in 60 minutes and Zahle to Baalbeck in 35
minutes. It would take the existing road until Rayak, then, instead of
continuing along the current itinerary in the middle of the agricultural
plain, it would continue until Saraaïne el-Tahta. From there, a
completely new high-speed road will assure connection with the
entrance of Baalbeck and its ring road, then it will continue straight,
once more in a new road, until Rasm el-Hadath (avoiding the plain),
and finally along the existing road until the bifurcation towards
Hermel.

- The connection Marjaayoun – Majdal Aanjar – Baalbeck from the east

side of the plain of the Beqaa: This road will follow the existing roads,
widened and managed as a high-speed road. It will allow linking
Nabatiyeh to Masnaa in 50 minutes and to Chtaura in 60 minutes, and
it will also assure faster connections with Baalbeck, Majdal Aanjar,
Kamed el-Laouz, Joub Jannine, Rashaya and Hasbaya.

- The Halba – Qobaiyat connection, to be managed as a high-speed road,

will facilitate the access from Tripoli towards the north of Akkar, Wadi
Khaled and Hermel. With the execution of the Tripoli – Halba highway
and the transformation of the Halba – Qobaiyat road into a high-speed
road, the time-distance between Tripoli and Hermel should be reduced
to around 60 minutes.

- South connections from Shehabiyeh. The improvement of the roads

between Tyre and Marjaayoun, as well as between Bent Jbayl and
Nabatiyeh is a matter of substantial importance. It should be possible
to link Nabatiyeh to Bent Jbayl, or Tyre to Marjaayoun in 30 minutes.

6. Strong Non-highway connections towards certain localities of the Central

Urban Area and of the agglomeration of Tripoli: These connections concern
on one hand, the itinerary Tripoli – Ehden – Tourza – Amioun – Chekka, and on
the other hand, the links between the coastal highway and Aajaltoun, Bikfaya,
Broummana and Aaley (from Damour). They are intended to reduce congestion
and help provide rapid access to the towns located at higher altitudes.

7. Priority improvements of connections to relay-cities: it concerns the

completion of the main network by selecting itineraries allowing a total
coverage of the territory and distance reduction between localities. The majority
of these links exists already. Therefore, priority rehabilitation works are
required. Nevertheless, several new connections must be constructed, namely
from Sir Dinniyeh towards Akkar and Ehden. The connections of the relay-cities
are represented on the general organization map of the territory.

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8. Connections between relay-cities and surrounding localities: these

connections must be rehabilitated and maintained on a regular basis.

9. Inter-urban railway connections could be considered towards the end of the

2000 – 2030 period, especially on the Beirut – Tripoli axis. The passenger traffic
intensity does not justify the re-instatement of this railway section in the short
and medium terms; its concept should however be maintained as its feasibility
may be justified in the future. In general, the National Physical Master Plan
recommends the preservation of the railway right of way, which is likely be of
great benefit in the future, when circumstances permit.

IV.3.4 Establish an integrated transport system for the entire Central

Urban Area

In Lebanon, it is only the Central Urban Area (Greater Beirut and adjacent
agglomerations) that is at a scale that imposes the selection of strategic choices for
urban transportation. The difficulties rise therein in terms of capacity, and not in terms
of availability or connections.

An important growth in motorized trips

The number of motorized trips of the residents of the Central Urban Area will roughly
double between 2000 and 2030, from 1.3 million trips per day up to 2.5 million6.
Displacements within this perimeter carried out by non-residents should be added;
they are estimated, at more than 400 000 additional trips7 in 2030. In total, the
Central Urban Area will record most likely 2.9 to 3 million motorized trips per
day in 2030, against 1.6 million in 2002.

Table 20: Population growth and motorized trip forecasts in the CUA

Resident Resident Number of Number of

population population motorized trips motorized trips
2000 2030 per day and per day and
per person per person
2000 2030
Beirut 400,000 430,000 0.68 1.06
First ring 900,000 1,000,000 0.87 1.37
Second ring 300,000 500,000 0.90 1.40
TOTAL 1,600,000 1,930,000 0.83 1.30

6
The values of individual mobility had been measured in the Metropolitan Region of Beirut (RMB) in
1994 (CDR, Transportation Plan for Greater Beirut) in a Beirut / Suburbs division. The individual
motorized displacement growth hypothesis considered in the framework of the current study is 1.5%
per year.
7
In 2002, recorded traffic at the entrances to the CUA counted roughly 360 000 passenger trips per day
(NPMPLT Transportation survey). The part induced from residents out of CUA in this traffic is
evaluated at 75%, or 270 000 passenger trips. With a progression ratio of 1.5% per year, this number
will increase to 410 000 in 2030.
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From the transportation planning point of view, it is most important to determine,

amongst these trips, those following radial paths and susceptible to increase traffic
saturation at the Beirut entrances. It is thus, important to evaluate daily flows and
deduce the required capacity at peak hours.

The Transportation Plan for Greater Beirut8 constitutes, to date, the most recent and
accurate document concerning transport over different types of paths. By projecting
this “ventilation” in 2030 (3 million daily trips), it is possible to obtain:

− 1.6 million motorized daily trips within the Greater Beirut (Beirut and its first
ring), against roughly 1.1 million today;

− 0.8 million motorized daily trips between the second ring and the Beirut
Metropolitan Region (Beirut and the first ring), on radial lines, against 0.5
million today;

− 0.6 million motorized daily trips within the second ring, bypassing Greater
Beirut (tangential lines in the second ring), against 0.4 today;

− 0.05 million motorized daily trips in transit in the Central Urban Area (that
cross the zone without a stop), against 0.03 today.

The number of central trips (1.6 million) and radial trips (1 million) would be thus 2.4
million, which means about 50% growth in comparison with 2000.

However, this growth will not be homogeneous along all the radial paths. In fact, the
main demographic and urban growth will occur in the north and the south of the urban
area, between Maameltein and Nahr Ibrahim in the North and between Khaldeh and
Damour in the South. Elsewhere, only the individual mobility growth will increase the
demand.

Hence, it is logical to think that the traffic growth will be significantly higher along
the northern, southern and southeastern radial axes (it would be reasonable to predict
an increase of demands by a factor of two) than along intermediate radial axes, such
as Bikfaya or Broummana (that could be effected by a 25% or 30% growth).

Settle the critical situation of the large axes at the entrances of Greater Beirut

Taking into consideration the existing situation for infrastructure, the perspectives
reveal a critical situation along the northern coastal axis and along the Beirut –
Damascus axis, while the South highway seems to stay unsaturated until 2030.

Southern highway: The Southern highway assures today, until Khaldeh, the crossing
of 25 000 to 30 000 vehicles per day and in all directions, and about 2,500 vehicles
per direction at peak hour. It functions at 40% of its capacity at peak hours and thus
possesses, theoretically, enough margins in case of a double-sized flow, provided that
its highway characteristics remain preserved. If this highway is “encroached” by

8
Transportation Plan for Greater Beirut, 1995, CDR, Team international – IAURIF - SOFRETU
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ribbon constructions and commercial activities, its efficiency will decrease and will
not be able to satisfy the demand.

Beirut – Damascus axis: The situation is already critical on this axis. Until Jamhour,
the records of the traffic volume show that the axis is saturated, necessitating already
a double capacity (2 x 4 instead of 2 x 2 roads). This situation will certainly worsen
with the reconstruction of Aaley and its region, and the increase of mobility. For the
horizon 2030, it is necessary to project a four times increase of the existing capacity,
which can not be realized without the execution of the missing section of the Arabic
highway, that is at least a connection between “the airport axis” and Laylake until
Bhamdoun for a start.

North axis: The northern axis, which functions currently at its maximum capacity,
will face the hardest problems for the coming decades. It assures today crossing (at
Dbayeh) for 80 000 vehicles per day and per direction, and about 6 000 vehicles per
direction at peak hours, with an occupancy rate of 2.1 persons per vehicle. The
perspective of a double-sized traffic volume in 2030 would require the construction of
5 additional highway lanes in each direction. At the crossing between Zouk and
Jounieh, it would be necessary to pass from 2 lanes per direction to at least 5 or 6
lanes, which corresponds to another 2 x 3 or even 2 x 4 highway.

Such perspectives must lead to a more global and prospective analysis of the problem.
In fact, in case these additional lanes are executed, what will happen later on if growth
continues? Will it be possible then to construct more highways in an area facing
topographic constraints? Apparently, it is important here to initiate collective public
transportation.

The National Physical Master Plan recommends, on these bases, to conceive a double
response to the problem of the coastal axis: one related to private motorized
vehicles and the other to public transport.

A double response: road and public transport

This response must be carried out in 3 phases:

Phase 1: It is appropriate, at a first stage, to increase the transport capacities along the
northern axis, between Qarantina and Dbayeh. The new road offer must provide the
opportunity to an integral recuperation of the ancient railway lines to use it for public
transport in a reserved corridor. At the road level, a 2 x 2 road would be created along
the coast between Qarantina and Antelias. At the public transport level, buses (with a
capacity of more than 50 passengers) would be set up only to take the path of the
coastal railroad, after rehabilitating it for this purpose only. These buses would start
from the foothills (Antelias, Jal ed-Dib, Zalka, Fanar, etc. axis), where they will
collect the passengers; then they would join the coastal road, where bus stops would
be certainly less (2 or 3 between Dbayeh and Beirut); and finally, they would enter
Beirut, preferably along reserved corridors for their paths only.

Phase 2: As a second stage, the widening of the road between Nahr el-Kalb and
Maameltein would have started, following a course to be defined in the framework of

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complementary analyses, taking into consideration the important insertion constraints.

This new path should be connected to the existing path at Dbayeh on one hand, and
Maameltein on another (where the two infrastructures would be established): the new
road would be designed to be used for transit only. In parallel, the main public bus
network would be extended, according to Phase 1 principle, to the north-south
itineraries (Jeita, Shnaniir, etc.) and to the eastern and southern suburbs (Hazmiyeh,
Aaramoun, Damour, etc.). At the same time, bus corridors would be developed in the
southern suburb (Borj Barajneh / Ghobeiry / Beirut) and the eastern suburbs (Sin el-
Fil, Dekouaneh, etc.) and within Beirut.

Phase 3: The roads network would be improved again by the creation of two sections
of the ring road (A2): on one hand, between Nahr al-Mott and Nahr al-Kalb, and on
the other, Hazmiyeh and Khaldeh. With the operation of these road sections, a
restructured collective transport offer would replace the displacement of the bus
itinerary from the railway corridor towards a corridor along the “old Tripoli road” in
the north and the “old Saida road” in the south, as well as the rehabilitation of the
railway for an inter-urban service, between Tripoli and Beirut, and between Zahrani
and Beirut.

After 2030, other developments will be considered, especially the completion of the
ring road between Hazmiyeh and Nahr el-Mott (this section is postponed till after
2030, due to services provided by the Hazmiyeh – Qarantina highway), and the
establishment of an urban transport, heavier than buses (a “light” metro or a modern
tramway) for the connections between Beirut and the near suburbs.

Establish a single authority to manage the transport sector in the Central Urban Area

The reflections initiated by the Ministry of Transportation have, for many decades,
recommended the establishment of a unique authority organizing the transportation in
Greater Beirut.

The National Physical Master Plan recommends the establishment of this extremely
important authority, at the scale of the entire Central Urban Area, starting from Jbayl
in the North to Damour in the South, and from Beirut until Aaley in the East.

This authority should have jurisdiction to take every decision that concerns the
transportation sector in this area, whether it is public road investments and collective
transport, or regulation of transporters’ activities, circulation maps on the main
network, and even traffic signals.

This authority must be endowed with financial abilities corresponding to the level of
its task. The Funds that it must manage could be supplied from various sources, to be
defined later, eventually part of which would be from the Ministry’s budget,
municipal contributions, and even from specific tax revenues (fines, parking, even oil
products).

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IV.3.5 Improving the quality of the road network across the territory

The general situation of the Lebanese road network is rather unsatisfactory, and more
efforts are needed in order to improve its quality.

This requires important and more consistent investments in the rehabilitation and
maintenance of the network.

The service level of the roads sector is essential for the fact that it unites the territory
and reduces the distances between towns and agglomerations. The existing network
assures services for the largest number of inhabitants and activities. Its situation is
vital for public safety and the financial savings in the cost of cars and spare parts.

An optimal method for the distribution of credits for road extensions, rehabilitations
and maintenance has been defined in the framework of a recent study (Road User
Charges) financed by the State. The National Physical Master Plan recommends using
this study for future planning.

The rehabilitation and the maintenance of the Lebanese road network require the
investment of roughly US$ 1 billion until 2030.

IV.3.6 Releaving inter-urban roads from local functions

The inter-urban road network suffers from dense linear constructions, causing a slow-
down of traffic and deteriorating public safety. Thus, it is important to find the
adequate means to reduce this “intrusion” along inter-urban roads whose functions are
not limited to urban / local activities.

One of the main reasons that lead people to build along these roads, and expressways,
is the shortage of lands for construction appropriately served by roads and
infrastructures at the immediate surroundings of cities and villages. This is why linear
extensions are often noticed between villages that end up joining with each other.

Hence, the National Physical Master Plan recommends the establishment of a national
plan for the development of municipal roads within the nearest perimeter of the
extension of existing urbanizations, and avoiding inter-urban roads.

Such an ambition could not be achieved by municipalities alone. It should be

strengthened by a national approach.

The efficacy of the national road network could not be guaranteed without such an
action, along with a more severe restriction on habitat and trade along these
infrastructures, especially along expressways.

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IV.4 TARGETED DISTRIBUTION OF MAJOR PUBLIC FACILITIES

The distribution of health, education, sport and administrative facilities in the cities
and regions of Lebanon have significantly improved. Nevertheless, numerous zones
of the territory could be better equipped, in terms of quantity, and especially in terms
of quality of services offered by these facilities.

IV.4.1 A modern concept for the location of public facilities

It will be more convenient in the future to avoid mistakes of the past that have led, in
the name of balanced development or simply in the name of equal distribution of
public loans between the regions, to the creation of under-exploited facilities in the
argument that funds (often in the form of loans) were available.

A just and reasonable definition of balanced development would consist in

guaranteeing perfect equality among the regions for basic services like supply of
water, distribution of energy and coverage of telephone network; executing adequate
wastewater treatment works that go necessarily through different solutions for
agglomerations and for small villages; and executing solid waste management
facilities as at the convenient scale and in the framework of cooperation among
neighboring municipalities. Other services go with objectives like allowing less than a
10 minute period for reaching an emergency service or a maternity hospital or a
healthcare center, or permitting less than 20 minutes period for reaching a primary
and elementary school, etc.

Relying on school and medical distribution or location maps that would become
public is a determining element for setting up equality among regions, based on
objective criteria.

IV.4.2 Education facilities

Universities constitute a major concern of the National Physical Master Plan, due to
the fact that the University represents a structuring factor for land management.

The distribution of universities must abide by academic criteria, but they could as well
contribute to the National Physical Master Plan objectives, especially the will of
national unity, balanced development and rationalization.

The National Physical Master Plan recommends respecting the plan of the education
authority, such as regrouping firmly their faculties, and creating synergies with the
economic activities and social life of the surroundings.

These orientations are interpreted by the recommendation to regroup the Lebanese

University in 4 campuses, each having specific faculties: the pole of Hadath in the
Central Urban Area, the pole of Tripoli in the North, the pole of Zahle-Chtaura in the
Beqaa and the pole of Nabatiyeh in the South.

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Regarding technical and vocational education, the National Physical Master Plan
recommends a larger grouping of public technical high schools to create units with an
acceptable critical size from an academic point of view and to promote the
intermingling of youth.

Technical and vocational high schools should therefore be distributed, in priority, on

one hand in major agglomerations, and on the other hand in certain relay cities
(maximum one per Caza, excluding major agglomerations).

As for the public schools, it would be appropriate to review their plans based on the
following criteria:

− To take into consideration the fact that over the entire territory, the population
between the ages of 4 and 17 years will become stagnant and even decrease in
absolute value;

− To take into consideration the complementarities between the offered student

seats by the private sector and the public sector. In certain towns, the
additional offer by the public sector will be of no value if the demand is
directed towards the private sector and if no increase in demand is registered
for the existing public school;

− To target for planning purpose in terms of “number of student seats” to offer

rather than “number of schools”, which doesn’t have much meaning;

− To review investment programs for establishing public schools once every five
years in order to adjust supply to demand;

− To settle as a priority the problem of old, over-crowded, inadequate, or rented

schools. The choice of replacing schools should be a priority over offering
new ones;

− To rely on the school map, with a minimum of 75 students per school; and

− For any new offer, especially for the secondary schools, to privilege the “relay
cities” and districts of large cities.

These orientations will allow setting a rational and coherent network of educational
establishments, which would serve the entire territory in equal quality and level of
service.

IV.4.3 Healthcare facilities

In the healthcare sector, the National Physical Master Plan recommends focusing the
efforts on access to health services for maximum benefit, rather than on the quantity
of new facilities.

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Lebanon possesses currently enough health care centers and hospitals, even more than
needed. Moreover, these facilities are distributed all over the country. The number of
advanced technological equipment is more then needed in comparison with
international standards.

At present, the challenge is the quality of services and improvement of access to

existing health care centers and hospitals.

The improvement of the quality of the road network and a more efficient management
scheme for transporting patients to required health facilities, represent adequate
solutions for the current and future needs of the country.

In parallel, Lebanon will focus on the technical advances that will allow henceforth
developing home-care methods and remote medical follow-up.

The complementarity of the offer between the private and public sectors must be
better defined. As long as health care is being funded by the social security systems,
the Ministry of Health subsidies and the private insurance companies, the public
sector should abstain from competing with the private sector on similar services
addressed to the same population. It should concentrate its supply only in regions
deprived of sufficient supply by the private sector.

In the future, the issue of the public/private complementarities in healthcare offers

should be the central concern of the state strategic reflections in health matters.

IV.4.4 Electrical power

Power supply has to be considered as an essential public service. Its role in the
economy is unarguable, but it is also a determining factor of life conditions.

Lebanon’s needs for energy in 2030 are estimated at 4 200 MW, that is around 800 W
per person9. The following table presents the projection of needs for 2030, taking into
consideration the hypotheses of the closure of the Zouk power plant by 2010 (loss of
600 MW) and the execution of the regional interconnection of 400 KV in 2005 (which
allows reducing the reserve of the margin of excess capacity from today’s 30% to
10%).

9
The evolution of the consumption per capita (including the needs for industrial and other economic
activities) is estimated at 3% per year between 2002 & 2015, then at 2% per year between 2015 &
2025, and at 1% per year between 2025 & 2030.
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Table 21: Projections of the energy demand for 2030

Year Population Need Safety Total Existing Necessary

per capita margin need power additional
plants capacity
capacity in
2002
(W/capita) (%) (MW) (MW) (MW)
2002 4,080,000 430 31 2,300 2,300 0
2005 4,200,000 470 18 2,300 2,300 0
2010 4,400,000 545 10 2,600 1,700 900
2015 4,600,000 630 10 3,200 1,700 600
2020 4,800,000 700 10 3,700 1,700 500
2025 5,000,000 770 10 4,200 1,700 500
2030 5,200,000 800 10 4,600 1,700 500

The expansion of power generation is therefore unavoidable and important, and

around 3,000 MW is needed in less than 30 years (taking into consideration the
closure of the Zouk plant).

The investments required for the increase in power generation, energy transmission
and distribution will be significant, about US$ 3.5 billion over this period.

It is then important to adopt in this sector a strategy with clear objectives and phases.

The objectives to accomplish are:

− Satisfaction of needs;
− Reduction of generation costs;
− Safety of transport;
− Safety of supply; and
− Control over the environmental impact of installations.

These objectives lead to strategic choices based on:

1- The use of gas as a main consumable, taking into consideration its

lower cost compared to oil and diesel, and its lower impact on the
environment, without however neglecting the possibility of energy
production using petroleum products, for reasons of securing adequate
supply, and without omitting the possibility of other means of power
production with renewable energy sources;

2- The interconnection of Lebanese transmission network with the Syrian

network to improve the safety of transmission;

3-
The reduction of the number of power generation plants. When the
interconnection is accomplished, the majority of the Lebanese territory
could be supplied with power from 2 or 3 national sites uniquely
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chosen amongst the most modern ones. The other sites could be used
for purposes other than energy production, and this will reduce their
pressure on the environment and will allow some savings in production
cost. Production must stop as soon as possible at Jiyeh and Zouk, as
well as at many small thermal plants throughout the country.
Hydroelectric plants could be maintained but these resources could
primarily be used for irrigation purposes.

4- The adoption of adequate phasing of investments as follows:

a) In 2005: Installation of gas conveyers to Deir Amar;

b) - In 2005: Building a new power plant at Deir Amar, with an

eventual capacity of 1,500 MW with the installation of 500 MW
in the first phase. This option is better than that considered by
EDL in Selaata, for reasons related to cost of gas transmission
and environmental impact.

- Dismantling the Zouk power plant.

c) In 2010: Building the second phase of the new plant at Deir Amar.

d) In 2015: Building the third phase of the new plant at Deir Amar.

e) In 2020: Doubling the capacity of the Zahrani plant. This option

would not be adopted unless an economic study of gas conveyance
confirms its feasibility. Otherwise, it will be necessary to increase
the capacity in the North, given its proximity to the source of
supply and consequently its lower investment costs.

f) In 2025: To build a new power plant or to expand an existing one

to a capacity of 400 MW. The Deir Amar plant being close to the
gas supply sources, it would be more appropriate to build the new
plants in the North. However, for the security of refueling sources
with reasonable prices, the production capacity could be distributed
between the Deir el-Amar and Zahrani power plants.

g) The distribution network, where development must accompany

production, would then consist eventually of almost eight 220 KV
aerial and underground lines as well as 20 sub-stations.

h) The distribution network, aerial and underground, should be

increased as well.

5- The experimentation at a large scale the use of suitable alternative

energy sources. It is worth testing in the plain of Akkar aeolian power
production. Likewise, it is worth testing the solar energy production in
the Beqaa valley. Experimentation for local use of solar energy could
be carried out in the Beqaa valley.

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IV.5 ENSURING A DISTINGUISHED URBAN DEVELOPMENT

RESPECTING THE CHARACTERISTICS OF EACH REGION

The social and economic development will be accompanied with a growing demand
for space and real estate for housing, activities and facilities.

Therefore, it is important to offer to the large agglomerations, as well as to smaller

cities and villages, enough space to secure that they expand on lands well equipped
with all infrastructures, without threatening the natural and agricultural national asset
of the country.

This demand must be developed in a way that does not jeopardize the country’s most
important resource, which is its territory. Land use must be in the utmost manner
adapted to the physical characteristics of different regions, taking into consideration
the inherited realities of the past and the future needs.

IV.5.1 Determine the preferential uses (vocations) of different parts of

the territory

Based on objective scientific analyses, the National Physical Master Plan determined
the preferential uses of the territory’s various parts in 4 categories:

− Urban regions: These are the regions where large cities have been historically
developed and where urban expansion should be extended in the future. They
are essentially constituted of buildings and managed roads, as well as
numerous “open” spaces that are organized either as urban green spaces or
used provisionally as car parks or for agricultural productions, or left in their
natural state.

− “Mixed” rural regions: These are the regions that accommodate small cities
and villages that are not attached to large agglomerations, as well as
agricultural areas of unequal quality in addition to natural spaces that are not
part of the important agricultural and natural entities of national interest. Thus,
they are the most adequate regions for a “mountainous” or “rural” housing,
and many of them possess important assets for tourism and summer
holidaying.

− Agricultural domain of national interest: The regions classified in this

category include the best agricultural lands of the country where irrigation
networks either exist or are planned. The use of these lands for agricultural
production purposes is a stake of national interest. Some of these regions are
threatened by urbanization, but generally they are inadequate for housing as
many of them are prone to flood risks.

− Natural sites of national interest: They are the regions that constitute a
national importance for the conservation of water resources, forests and
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biodiversity. In general, they include the higher mountains, the great valleys
and some places – in the North and in the South – that are vital to secure
biological continuities for the flora and fauna. These regions, which contain
several villages and some agricultural lands, are essential for the natural
environment that constitutes one of Lebanon’s major assets for tourism and
quality of life in nature.

Identify the agricultural domains of national interest

The identification of the regions of agricultural vocation has been made using the
maps of soil classification and irrigation perimeters.

The analyses carried out, in the framework of a joint research program between the
National Center for Scientific Research and experts in charge of the National Physical
Master Plan, have taken into consideration multitude of criteria to produce the soil
classification map, including: soil nature (pedology), soil depths, acidity, slope,
irrigation possibilities, etc.

The soils have been classified into 5 classes, according to their suitability: Unsuitable
for agriculture; Mediocre; Average; Good; and Excellent.

The National Physical Master Plan has adopted the 3 best classes (average, good,
excellent) for the selection of the core of the agricultural domain of national interest.
Lands of lower quality, but capable of being improved by future irrigation projects
have been added to these regions.

Identify natural sites of national interest

The components of the regions with natural vocations are:

− The mountain peaks, generally above 1 900 m: These areas are important for
the quality of water resources; they are also characterized by their vulnerable
flora and fauna;

− The Cedars, Fir and Juniper Forests: These zones are in general located
between elevations 1 500 and 1 900 m. Among them is the “Cedar and
mountain trees corridor” isolated on the western slopes of Mount Lebanon;

− The Pine domain, which covers a considerable part of the western slopes of
Mount Lebanon, between the coastline (outside of the agglomerations) and
1500 m elevation;

− Valley beds and slopes: These constitute of riverbeds and a rich vegetation on
the side slopes of the valley; they play a major role in biological continuities,
biodiversity and water resources quality; and

− Areas of continuity in plain and hilly zones: Such places are important in order
to connect natural entities to each other, such as in the North between Mount

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Lebanon and Anti Lebanon or in the South between Mount Lebanon and Jabal
Aamel.

These regions with natural vocation also include specific sites, the preservation of
which is a national duty, given their importance for the environment, the heritage or
the tourist attractiveness of the country. The majority of these sites have been
identified: they are elements of the geological heritage, natural wonders, natural areas
of major biological (fauna and flora) interest and remarkable coastal sites.

Arbitrate land use conflicts

The designation of urban regions on one hand, rural regions on the other, then
agricultural regions, and finally natural regions, shows many overlapping areas.

Land use conflicts are induced by these areas. Within the framework of the National
Physical Master Plan, these conflicts are solved in accordance to the following
criteria:

− Urban extensions of agglomerations represent an unavoidable imperative. In

the case of a conflict with other vocations, urban regions take precedence first
over rural regions, then over agricultural regions and finally over natural
regions.

− Agricultural regions then take precedence generally over rural and natural
regions (except in high mountains and steep valleys).

− Natural regions take precedence over mixed rural regions.

Hence, the general map of “vocations” for the different parts of the national territory
is elaborated with a classification into 4 categories: Urban, Rural, Agricultural and
Natural.

This map is one of the most important tools set by the Master Plan to control land use
for the coming decades.

IV.5.2 Promote urban quality

The urban developments that will take place until 2030 provide an opportunity of a
substantial improvement of urban quality.

In fact, over this long period, it is estimated that around 400,000 new dwellings would
be built and at least 50,000 old ones would be destroyed, without counting thousands
of various enterprises and facilities sites, and hundreds of kilometers of new roads,
streets, avenues, boulevards and expressways. The cities and villages will extend from
40% to 50%. In a word, major evolutions are expected.

It is important to grab this opportunity to improve on what has been done in the past,
practically on all fronts.

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Architecture deserves a particular effort, including the joint efforts of architects, their
Syndicates, municipalities and the State to ensure the progress of architectural quality
in terms of form, material, style, harmony vis-à-vis the natural surrounding or built
areas.

Legislation must evolve in order to improve the quality of urban centers and their
insertion within their landscape environment.

In the cities, the rules of order and alignment must be researched. The juxtaposition of
buildings could give good results, especially in flat urban sites (in the plane or along
the roads following the contour lines).

In the countryside, the height of buildings must be better defined and harmonized.
The height of a middle-aged pine tree must be the rule wherever it is possible
throughout the western sides of Mount Lebanon.

The built-up heritage must be protected and esteemed. The protection of what has
been finally preserved in the downtown of Beirut has shown that this heritage is
endowed with a considerable attraction that recent buildings have not acquired yet. As
heritage is the memory of the city, it is important to build cities that identify
themselves through their history and their roots, instead of forgotten cities.

Last but not least, urban quality is mainly represented by the quality of public places.
Sea front Cornices have an undeniable success in every coastal city. Similar cornices
should be developed in mountains in order to open the view over great landscapes.
The ordinary street, a major public place, must be the subject of a special attention,
especially as far as pedestrian pathways and location of trees are concerned.

IV.5.3 Organize urban developments in large agglomerations

The elaboration of local land use plans in an urban area should be more often an
opportunity to analyze, propose and implement complementary policies for the
following features of the city:

− Archeological and historical heritage to be preserved totally or through its

fundamental characteristics; this preservation should be conceived within the
framework of both limited and extended perimeters, with appropriate rules for
both;

− The “known” city that does not pose a particular problem and that should
evolve in continuity with the existing development;

− Large opportunities on lands that can be recuperated from undeveloped lands

and on which it is possible to conceive ambitious projects;

− The city “to be reconstituted”, namely the districts that are poorly structured,
badly equipped and need restructuring efforts by means of new roads, public
places, facilities and even amendments of existing buildings; and

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− The extensions, the coherence of which must be assured, by designing the

basic skeleton network of roads and infrastructures, by adequate regulations
capable of generating an urban planning that is not excessively expensive for
local communities, and by defining the front lines that will separate the future
city from the surrounding major agricultural and natural areas.

IV.5.4 Limiting scattered and linear developments

Between the years 2000 and 2030, urban sprawl will cover between 250 km2 to 300
km2, a growth of 42% to 50% compared with the current situation. The share of the
Central Urban Area in this expansion will be 50 to 60 km2, and similarly that of the
other large agglomerations. Therefore, two thirds of the population currently living
and who will live in the future in the large agglomerations will require 100 to 120
km2 of extensions, which in 30 years will be between 40% and 50% of the urbanized
lands. The other third of the population that live in rural regions will use as much
land, if not more, to extend its cities and villages.

The fact that rural areas consume more land is understandable, the densities therein
being less than urban zones.

But if this reality is understandable and acceptable, it is important that this need for
land would not take forms that require uncontrolled expensive infrastructure.

The construction of infrastructure for lands to be urbanized in thousands of towns

away from each other represents already a significant financial challenge. If the land
in question is to be constructed in several thousand locations rather than in a
thousand, the cost will be greater and the hopes for high quality would disappear.
Thus, scattered construction is precisely the form of urbanization that increases to the
extreme the number of localities (that need infrastructure). It is not only costly but is
also responsible for the degradation of landscapes and sites as well as dissecting vast
agricultural areas.

It is appropriate therefore to introduce serious measures for limiting scattered

construction.

Moreover, it will be convenient to control linear developments along roads that

provide inter urban connections. Linear development is the cause of decreasing traffic
efficiency, increasing road accidents and thus deteriorating the quality of life. The
best way to face this phenomenon is undoubtedly the development of municipal road
networks in the immediate surrounding of cities and villages. In this context, a general
national program to control this linear development phenomenon is necessary and
would have useful effects.

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Figure IV.7. The four dominant Land Uses

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IV.6 RE-EVALUATION OF THE NATURAL WEALTH OF THE COUNTRY

The question of putting good use the natural resources is not an issue of principle or
an ideological one, nor a matter of esthetics. It is first and foremost, a social and
economic issue, in view of the importance of the natural resources in human life
activities.

IV.6.1 The “green and blue network”, a notion of natural space

continuity

Lebanon possesses numerous places, whose destination is precisely to remain in their

natural state, for many reasons.

The first of these reasons is the protection of the most important natural resource of
Lebanon, its water resource, which requires the protection of the mountain peaks
(Lebanon’s water tower), rivers and valleys.

The second reason is the need to stabilize the steep slopes from excessive erosion
risks by maintaining and developing their vegetation covers or at least by reducing the
aggravating factors. This issue is highly important in the mountains, extending not
only to the limits of vegetation, but also to the abandoned agricultural terraces, and
most importantly to the slopes of the valleys.

The third reason is the need to conserve the remarkable biodiversity that characterizes
the natural areas of Lebanon. This biodiversity constitutes a universal heritage and a
great wealth that induce positive effects on the quality of life and health.

The fourth and the last reason is the need to protect what represents one of the major
tourist attractions of the country, namely its forests, vegetations and natural
landscapes.

Hence, the “green and blue network” project lies on the establishment and
implementation of a global scheme for areas of natural vocations, which organizes
their continuity and the profit attained there on, from the peaks down to the coastline.

The proposed scheme includes:

− Distinguished “specific” natural sites to protect: Inland, this concerns

essentially geological heritage, fossil zones above Jbayl, natural bridges,
natural wonders and astonishing rock formations, cliffs, grottos, caves and
water falls. Along the coast, there are around twenty remarkable sites that
should be preserved: sandy beaches, a certain number of rocks and cliffs,
sweet water springs, more or less large bays (Grotte aux Pigeons the smallest,
and the Bay of Jounieh the largest), etc.

− The zone of peaks, beyond elevation of 1 900 m, is to be preserved because of

its importance in water resources and its fragility. This zone is unsuitable for

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dwellings and due to rough climatic conditions, its fauna and flora are
relatively poor and excessively fragile.

− The zone of Cedar and Juniper, between elevations of 1 500 and 1 900 m, is to
be protected because of the quality of these species, coupled with a
determination to develop them. On the western side of Mount Lebanon, this
zone includes “Cedars and mountain Orchards”: efforts should be undertaken,
so that it regenerates the Cedar and assures biological continuities between
existing isolated Cedar woods, without omitting the possibility of a sustainable
balance between the objective and the agricultural practices on one hand, and
the creation of ski resorts on the other.

− The area of the Fir of Cilicie, a rare and endemic species of the Middle East
that grows only in North Lebanon between the altitudes of 1 200 m and the
level of the Cedars. This fir is often accompanied with other conifers. In this
region, forests are still relatively very developed and act as a “welcoming
place” for various animal species, especially large mammals.

− The land of Pines: It is the zone just downhill from the Cedars zone on the
western slopes of Mount Lebanon. In these areas, construction overlaps with
the natural environment. This is what makes the charm of Matn, Baabda,
Chouf and Jezzine. A quality to be definitely preserved.

− The great valleys: The steep side slopes of the valleys make these zones
unsuitable for construction. They are however very important for biological
continuities, water and landscape qualities. It is therefore essential to free them
from their current status as places for disposal of solid waste and wastewater,
and re-establish their natural quality.

− Green incisions along the coast: There are two entities still well preserved on
the coastal front, Ras Chaqaa and the southern zone between Bayada and Ras
Naqoura. They represent the last witnesses of a landscape that was
aggressively damaged by urbanization. Besides, there are other small scattered
beaches or rocky witnesses (Enfeh, Grotte aux Pigeons) free of constructions
that are worth protecting and rehabilitating. In the most urbanized parts of the
coast, river mouths offer the possibility to avoid a linear urban expansion and
it is appropriate to grab this opportunity in order to create green incisions that
will contribute to the quality of life of each person.

− Access to the seashore and preservation of remarkable coastal sites: The

National Physical Master Plan recommends a coastal management that secures
public access to all the beaches and preserves the remarkable natural sites.

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The coastal zones to preserve from all changes

or to rehabilitate in their original status

The National Physical Master Plan recommends the preservation of a group of coastal
sites from all changes according to their natural configuration (coastal line, essential
characteristics, etc.). These sites and zones are as follows (from North to South):

Coastal dunes of Akkar plain

Salinas and wetland of Qlayaate
Palm Island
Seashore cornice and fishing harbor of Al Mina
Beach of southern Tripoli towards Qalamoun
Salinas, wall promenade and the phoenicien wall of Enfe
Promontory cape and cliffs of Ras Chaqaa
Fishing harbor of Batroun
Beaches of Kfaraabida
Beaches in the south and north of Jbail
Fishing harbor of Jbail
Archeological site of Jbail and its maritime façade
Maameltein promontory
Bay of Jounieh and its promenade Cornice
Seafront Cornice of Ain Mreisseh in Beirut
The rock and the small bay of Grotte aux Pigeons in Beirut
Sandy beach of Ramlet el-Baida in Beirut
Sandy beaches of Jnah
Beaches of Damour
Ras es-Saadiyat rocky cape
Sandy beaches of Rmeileh and Jiyeh
Beaches north and south of Saïda
Coastal promenade Cornice north of Saida
The Sea Castle of Saida
Sea façade of the old city of Saida
Mhayleeb scientific reserve
Tyre cape
Archeological site, old city and sea facade of Tyre
Fishing harbor of Tyre
Sandy beaches in the south of Tyre
Ras el-Ain springs
White cliffs of Bayada
White cliffs and bay of Naqoura

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IV.6.2 A national natural park reserve in the North

The National Physical Master Plan recommends the establishment of an ambitious

project of a national natural park in the North, including the mountain block of Qornet
es-Sawda and the natural and forest areas of the North in the perimeter of Karm
Chbat, Qammouaa and Fissane. This project that the authorities should support is
based on the exceptional quality of the natural areas of this region, the preservation
status of this zone and its very low urbanization rate. Classification of this area as a
National Park must be accompanied with an active policy supported by the
Government in order to support and revive the Park. It can generate important
economic income for the concerned localities. In return, it requires the respect of very
strict regulations in the matters of urban and road developments. North Lebanon and
Hermel, both of which facing economic difficulties, can profit considerably from this
project, the adoption of which should naturally be the jurisdiction of the Ministry of
Environment.

The creation of this national park does not contradict a reasonable exploitation of the
northern slopes of Qornet es-Sawda for winter sports. However, this type of
development projects should take into consideration, in a very strict manner, severe
environmental constraints to be implemented within the park.

IV.6.3 Numerous regional natural parks

The grouping of natural, landscape and heritage assets in a number of places justifies
the elaboration of regional natural park projects. The concept of regional natural parks
differs from the concept of a national park by the larger flexibility in the equilibrium
to be established between nature and economic development.

A regional natural park is designed as a joint project with several neighboring

municipalities, agreeing on a moderate and high quality urban development plan and
on the conservation of the natural environment. It is based on this chart and on human
and financial means that the municipalities would have planned to realize their
projects, that the Government could classify the region as a natural park. This label
provides to tourists and visitors a series of guarantees on the quality of life and the
absence of disturbances. It is therefore a very important tourist argument. In other
countries that have implemented such policies, many regions have been trying for
years to acquire this label that constitutes a powerful factor for their development.

In Lebanon, the regions that are best prepared for regional natural park projects are
the valley and the high circus of Qadisha, the valley and the high circus of Nahr
Jaouz, the high valley of Nahr Ibrahim, the high valley of Nahr Beirut (“valley of
Lamartine”), Barouk mountain range and the valley of Barouk, Bisri and Awali
(Chouf reserve included), eventually extended towards West Beqaa, over the foothills
of Aammiq and the lake of Qaraoun, the hinterland of Naqoura, etc. Other regions
could claim such projects, like the region of Hasbaya-Rashaya-Hermon, or the region
of Ayshiyeh-Rihane.

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IV.7 A SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF WATER RESOURCES

IV.7.1 An efficient development of water resources

Lebanon is endowed with hydraulic resources that, after evaporation and evapo-
transpiration, are limited to less than 5 billion m3 per year. The exploitation of this
resource is very difficult because of the morphology and the geology of the country,
as well as the limitation of the rainfall season over 5 months per year, against 5
months of dry season and 2 months of limited rainfall.

Therefore, according to the unanimous opinion of experts, Lebanon could never

exploit more than an annual average of 2.2 billion m3.

Presently, Lebanon exploits around 1 billion m3 of water through the Water

Authorities10, and probably 250 million m3 from private wells. 60% of this volume is
generally used for agricultural purposes and 40% for domestic and industrial (the
industrial share being negligible), with however significant system leakages in the
public distribution systems (roughly half of the pumped volume).

The future water demands could be divided between domestic, agricultural and
industrial demands.

The National Physical Master Plan gives the priority for domestic supply, given the
critical situation of this part of the demand.

The satisfaction of domestic water demands in Lebanon in 2030 will require around
420 million m3 (220 l/d/c x 365 d x 5.2 M people), namely an annual volume of 525
million m3 to pump and distribute, with a system loss rate of 20% (against more than
50% today). This volume represents roughly 24% of the maximum exploitable
resources.

Irrigation projects should be developed to the maximum allowed by corresponding

public budget.

The irrigation sector mobilizes today around 650 million m3, that is between 1/4 and
1/3 of the maximum exploitable resources.

The use of available water resources for agriculture, after satisfying the domestic and
industrial demands, would mean the activation of around 1.6 billion m3 for this sector
in 2030. This would allow the irrigation of practically all the exploitable lands of
Lebanon. This objective will be however very difficult to reach before 2030, given the
constraints of public finance.

10
Estimates vary between 900 and 1 350 million m3 of water distributed by the Water Authorities.
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Table 22: Current and future use of water resources

Sector Current use Future Demand in 2030

3
(million m ) (million m3)
Domestic water 195 – 405 525
Irrigation 670 – 875 1,600
Industry 35 – 65 140
Total 900 – 1,345 2,265
Source: For the currently used resources, compilation of different available studies.

IV.7.2 Water reservoir projects reconciling objectives with potentials

The financial difficulties of the State lead to giving more importance to reducing
water system losses. In fact, maintaining a leakage rate of 50% would entail a 50%
loss of investment.

However, the reduction of losses and leakages alone will not be enough to cover the
demands and there will be a need to mobilize new resources.

Aware of the situation, the Government of Lebanon has developed a plan of surface
water development, through the construction of 18 dams and 23 lakes, as well as 2
regulation weir in the Beqaa that would serve as spillways, rather than storage work.
The capacities of the proposed dams vary between 4 and 128 million m3, while those
of lakes vary between 0.35 and 2 million m3. The planned lakes are distributed evenly
all over the country, especially on the eastern slopes of Mount Lebanon. From the 23
lakes, the locations of 17 are known, and 5 lakes are to be located in the Cazas of
Marjaayoun, Bent Jbayl, Hasbaya, Nabatiyeh and Tyre.

This plan, if executed, would allow mobilizing an annual volume of 1.1 billion m3,
bringing the exploited amounts (current and future) up to 2 billion m3, which is very
close to the maximum volume possible. Such a perspective could obviously resolve
the problem of domestic water supply and assure irrigation water for the effectively
irrigable lands of Lebanon (this is around half of the currently cultivated lands).

Nevertheless, it is unlikely that the Lebanese administration and public finance could
accomplish this project in less than 30 years. The cost of the dams alone could exceed
US$ 2 billion. There are also the distribution and irrigation networks to finance,
which are evaluated in billions of dollars as well. Hence, this project should be
perceived more as a development scheme, rather than a finalized and scheduled
program.

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Table 23: Proposed dams of the MoEW scheme

Proposed CAZA Capacity

(million
Catchment Spring Notes
dams m 3)
Shabrouh Kesrouane 8 El-Kalb Shabrouh Under
execution
Aassi Baalback 37 El-Aassi El-Aassi Started
should
/

irrigate 6000
hectares
Bisri Chouf 120 Awali Awali In current
detailed study
Boqaata Matn/Kesrouane 7 El-Kalb Boqaata Feasibility
study started /
Promised for
2003
Dar Koura 55 Abou Ali Abou Ali To review
feasibility
Beashtar
El-Hasbani / Hasbaya 50 – El-Hasbani El-Hasbani Feasibility
study started
Ibl Saqi 100
Bared Akkar/Minieh 40 El-Bared El-Bared Feasibility
study started
Danniyeh
Qarqaf Akkar 20 Aarqa Deviation Feasibility
study started
Aarqa+Wadi
Jamous
Nahr el- Batroun 9 El-Jaouz El-Jaouz Feasibility
study started
Jaouz/Qalaat
el-Msailha
Younine Baalbeck 5 Aassi Deviation from Feasibility
study started
Wadi Nahle
Janneh Jbayl 30 Ibrahim Ibrahim Feasibility
study started /
Unsuitable
Technical
conditions
Noura et- Akkar 70 El-Kabir El-Kabir Promised for
2005/ Only a
Tahta part would be
allocated to
GoL
Azzounieh Aaley 4 Damour Safa Unsuitable
Technical
conditions
Massa Zahle 8 Litani Litany Study not yet
launched
Damour Chouf 60 Damour Damour Study not yet
launched
Iaal Zghorta 10 Abou Ali Deviation Study not yet
launched
Abou Ali +
Iaal
Khardali Marjaayoun 128 Litani Litani Study not yet
launched
Kfarsir Tyre 12 Litani Litani Study not yet
launched
Source: Ministry of Energy and Water (MoEW) – CDR, 2002

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Table 24: Proposed lakes of the MoEW scheme

Proposed CAZA Capacity

(million m3)
Catchment Spring Notes
lake
Yammouneh Baalbeck 1.5 Yammouneh Yammouneh Under
execution
Qaissamani Baabda 0.55 Beirut - Under
execution
El-Habash El-Matn 0.55 El-Kalb Draft
accomplished
/ Promised for
2005
Qammouaa Akkar 1 El-Aarqa Feasibility
study
accomplished
Qatlab/Otlab Akkar 1 El-Ostounae - Feasibility
study started
Kouashra Akkar 0.35 El-Ostouane - Feasibility
study started /
existing dam
0.12Mm3
Sbat Baalbeck 0.70 – 1 Litani Sbat Feasibility
study started
Jriban Baalbeck 0.70 – 1 Litani Jribane Feasibility
study started
Balaa Batroun 1 El-Jaouz - Feasibility
study started /
Sensitive
natural site
Laqlouq Jbayl 0.80 El-Jaouz - Feasibility
study started
Azzibe Chouf 0.70 El-Awali Feasibility
study started
Maaser Chouf 2 El-Awali - Feasibility
Chouf study started
Brissa Minieh/Danniyeh 1.2 El-Bared Promised
before 2005
Rashaya Rashaya <1 El-Hasbani
Lebaa Jezzine 0.96 El-Awali
Kfarhouneh Jezzine 1.20 Litani
Unknown Tyre
Unknown Nabatiyeh
Unknown Hasbaya
Unknown Marjaayoun
Unknown Bent Jbayl
Source: MoEW – CDR, 2002

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Priorities proposed by NPMPLT for lakes and dams

The National Physical Master Plan proposes to grant the priority for implementing the
planned works (dams and lakes) based on 4 criteria:

− The capacity of the establishments to satisfy the domestic water demands. This
criteria is twice as important compared to other criteria;

− The improvement that the work would bring to the irrigated lands;

− The possibility that the project could bring improvements to other objectives,
especially tourism and protection against floods, and that it does not harm the
environment; and

− Finally, the degree of progress of feasibility studies and implementation.

Concerning domestic water, priority is defined according to the quantities of potable

water distributed by water authorities and per capita and per day, in peak periods, that
will profit from this additional water amounts. Grades are hence distributed: (0) when
current distribution quantity is higher than 250 l/d/capita; (2) between 150 and 200
l/d/capita; (4) between 100 and 150 l/d/capita; and (6) below 100 l/d/capita.

The priority for irrigation water, by increasing order, is defined as follows: (1) new
irrigation networks have to be constructed; (2) provision of additional amounts of
water would allow the improvement of the existing irrigation; (3) the region is
currently a non-irrigated agricultural zone; and (4) when the primary infrastructure
exists or is under construction and it would be necessary to associate the project with
secondary and tertiary infrastructure development investment.

Concerning the other uses of the works: (1) touristic; (1) protection against floods;
and (0) undermining remarkable sites.

Concerning the status of project progress: (0) some projects are technically not
feasible or are not yet defined; (1) feasibility studies are to be launched or are
ongoing; (2) detailed studies are under execution or the projects are planned for the
coming 3 years; (3) the projects are already planned for the current year; and (4) the
projects are under execution.

The grades obtained are added establishing the priorities shown in Table 25.

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Table 25: The investment priorities of NPMPLT for the proposed dams and lakes

Dams Priority Lakes Priority

Noura et-Tahta High Yammouneh High
Bared High Qammouaa Medium
Iaal High Qartlab / Otlab Medium
Younine High Kouashra Medium
Shabrouh High Sbat Medium
Massa High Jriban Medium
Al-Hasbani / Ibl Saqi High Azzibe Medium
Aassi Medium Maasser Chouf Medium
Jenne Medium Brissa Low
Boqaata Medium Balaa Low
Azzounieh Medium Laqlouq Low
Damour Medium El-Habash Low
Bisri Medium Qaissamani Low
Khardali Medium Rashaya Low
Qarqaf Low Lebaa Low
Dar Beashtar Low Kfarhouneh Low
Qalaat el-Mseilha Low Other un-identified r. Low
Kfarsir Low

IV.7.3 A significant development of irrigation

The last plan for the extension of irrigated perimeters had been issued in 1972 for the
period 1972-1977. It stipulated that an additional 81 500 hectares would be irrigated
in addition to those already irrigated. Potentially irrigable surfaces have been
evaluated at 74 000 hectares by the MoEW in 1991. A study on the agricultural
potentials of Lebanon in 1980 (UNDP – FAO, 1980) has shown as well that 85 500
hectares are potentially irrigable, distributed roughly as in the 1972 decree.

At present, the MoEW and the Litani River Authority (LRA), the two major actors in
this sector, have planned numerous irrigation projects for the coming years. These
projects could be classified into two categories:

• Projects that allow improving and organizing the existing irrigation, especially
in the Beqaa, where the LRA planned irrigating the entire plain; and

• Projects that aim at creating new irrigation systems.

The projects actually engaged are those of Aassi, Noura et-Tahta, Hasbani and South
Lebanon (Conveyer 800), and priority should be granted to these already engaged 4
projects. Given their cost (around US$ 15 000 per irrigated hectare), these projects
could be considered as major socio-agricultural development, i.e. their main vocation
is essentially social.

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The Noura et-Tahta and Aassi projects are being carried out under agreements signed
with the Syrian Government for sharing the Nahr el-Kabir and Aassi waters.

The Hasbani project is important in order to revitalize the region and to encourage the
farmers to return to the fallow lands abandoned during the Israeli occupation.

Detailed studies and the project of the Conveyor 800 are also being prepared.

The execution of these projects would only be useful if integrated into a global
agricultural development strategy that organizes production and commercialization,
and opens the markets to export. Besides, these projects require the adoption of a land
related policy, concerning 2 issues: cadastral coverage of the potential irrigated land
and the reduction of construction on the irrigable lands.

Current irrigation projects

The projects of rehabilitation of irrigation perimeters, chosen according to feasibility

studies funded by the World Bank, are either accomplished or under construction.
Other projects are already running such as South Beqaa, Qasmiyeh, Nahr Ibrahim, etc.
However, the management of these irrigation systems remains questionable. A higher
importance must be attached to the creation of committees of users as well as to the
awareness of the farmers to improve the efficiency of irrigation and to make use of
modern agricultural and irrigation techniques, to reach a sustainable and profitable
production.

The most ambitious project currently under execution aims at irrigating 15 000
hectares of lands in South Lebanon. However, the present project is limited to the
main pipelines. In order to benefit from this important investment, studies and
construction of distribution systems for concerned perimeter should be a priority.

In the framework of the development of South Lebanon, following the liberation from
the 20-year Israeli occupation, a socio-economic support is planned by the
government to contribute to the stabilization of the population and to encourage the
displaced population to return and to re-establish the agricultural, industrial and
artizanal activities. Priority should be given to irrigate useful agricultural land.

The other irrigation projects, especially those associated with the dams of Aassi and
Nahr el-Kabir, depend on the construction of the dams. The construction of Aassi dam
has been recently confirmed.

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Table 26: The large irrigation and drainage projects planned or currently under
consideration by the Lebanese Government
Project Surface (ha) Spring Cost
M$
Aassi 6 000 Aassi (Aassi dam) 5011
Noura et-Tahta 5 000 El-Kabir (Nour et-Tahta 5012
MoEW

dam)
El-Bared 750 El-Bared (El-Bared dam) 813
Younine 1 545 Younine dam 1514
Conveyer 800 South Lebanon 14 700 Litani (Qaraoun) 21015
Water supply – Anane 3 500 Litani (Qaraoun) via Anane 3516
Nabatiyeh
South Beqaa – Left bank 6 700 Litani (Qaraoun) + Aquifers 45
Phase 2 + Springs Anjar and
Chamsine
South Beqaa – Right bank 9 200 Aquifers 55
South Beqaa – North zone 5 600 Aquifers + Springs Anjar 30
and Chamsine
South Qaraoun17 865 Litani (Qaraoun) 5
Project of sewage and 5 000 -- 1218
LRA

drainage of Beqaa
Qasmiyeh Phase 2 2 100 Litani (Kfarsir dam) + 719
Aquifers
Khardali 13 000 Khardali dam – Middle 9520
Cretaceous aquifers
pumping
Maissa – Yahfoufa 1 750 Wadi Yahfoufa (Litani 721
tributary)
Saïda Jezzine 1 200 Litani (Qaraoun) via Anane 6
Hasbani 5 000 – 15 000 Hasbani 50

11
Source: MoEW. This price does not include the cost of the Aassi dam, estimated at US$50M.
12
This cost is an estimate. It does not include the cost of the dam, estimated at US$50M.
13
This cost is an estimate. It does not include the cost of the dam, estimated at US$50M.
14
This cost is an estimate. It does not include the cost of the dam, estimated at US$5M.
15
Source LRA. This cost includes the water supply that has a double use (irrigation – potable water),
but does not include the cost the management and equipment per parcel, estimated at US$ 220M.
16
Source Dar al-Handasah. The price of Anane reservoir capacity increase is not included. The cost of
the conveyer is of double use (irrigation – potable water) and does not include the cost the
management and equipment per parcel, estimated at more than US$ 30M.
17
Source LRA. This project includes irrigated lands in rehabilitation and a part in extension.
18
Source LRA. This cost does not include the drainage per parcel at the farmers charge.
19
Source LRA. This cost does not include the cost of Kfarsir dam, estimates at US$ 12M.
20
Source LRA. This cost does not include the cost of Khardali dam, estimates at US$ 145M.
21
Source LRA. This cost does not include the cost of Massa dam, estimates at US$ 16M.
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Figure IV.18: Priority Projects of Dams and Lakes

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Figure IV.19: Condition of Irrigation Projects

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IV.8 EFFECTIVE SOLUTIONS TO THE PROBLEMS OF QUARRIES,

WASTEWATER AND SOLID WASTE

The quarries, the sewage systems and the solid wastes constitute three major problems
in Lebanon that are still not resolved. The stakes of these three issues are considerable
for the public health as well as for the quality of life of the population.

IV.8.1 Extracting building material without endangering the quality of life

Lebanon requires 3 million m3 of aggregates every year (in general, 70% of gravel
and 30% of sand), without counting exceptional demands linked to large projects. The
extraction of these materials requires the mobilization of roughly 50 hectares per year
for rock quarries and 20 hectares per year for sand quarries.

The solutions applied to date to reduce the environmental damages of these activities
have often failed.

A Master plan for the management of quarries (especially gravel quarries) was
prepared in 1995 and 1996; it delineated the exploitable deposit sites based on a
number of economic and environmental criteria. But the Lebanese Government did
not succeed in establishing a consensus on this plan.

The Government decided afterwards to restrict gravel extraction to several sites

located on the Anti-Lebanon Range. However, access and transportation difficulties
have hindered the implementation of this decision.

Many illegal quarries continue to operate in the country. Police operations have
allowed the closure of certain sites, without guaranteeing that activities will not restart
due to increasing demand for material.

Material import, presented as an alternative to quarries, has faced the opposition of

quarry operators and building and public works professionals.

In the absence of a satisfactory solution, the prices of materials have increased

significantly. The reasons for this increase could not be determined (retention of
stocks or actual scarcity of resources).

It is important therefore to learn from previous management efforts in this sector and
to propose a coherent policy for the future.

Thus, the National Physical Master Plan proposes the following principles and
measures:

− Lebanon should, as much as possible, satisfy its own demand for construction
material. This is a concept of sustainable development. Transferring the
problem to other countries ought to be considered as a last resort.

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− It is appropriate to define the regions where all sand and stone for gravel
(other than decorative stones) extraction activities are strictly forbidden. These
regions should be defined according to simple criteria: Banning should be
implemented within a perimeter of 500 m all around classified natural
reserves, as well as protected sites and monuments, inhabited zones, coastlines
and rivers. It should also be implemented to dense forest areas, mountain
peaks (above 1,900 m) and Cedars corridor.

− Quarries should be considered as classified industrial activities, and they

should be submitted to complete environmental impact assessment studies.
These studies should be as stringent as the planned extraction areas are
important.

− Obligation to rehabilitate the sites should be reinforced: Operators should

submit enough financial guarantees for site rehabilitation. The rehabilitation
plans should be agreed upon previously.

− Legislation concerning extraction activities, whether it is for exploitation or

for improvement of agricultural lands, should be homogenized, modernized
and completed.

− Penalties in the case of regulation infringements should be strengthened. For

sand extraction, legislation should highlight the absolute necessity to preserve
the vegetation soil that must be spread again on the site after exploitation.

− Applications for the authorization of exceptional land and real estate

development projects, especially landfills, dikes and jetties, should include
designs and specifications concerning the materials to be used, including
precise designation of the requested extraction sites, quantities, type of
materials and roads for transportation of such materials. This information
should be part of the contract between the applicant and the relevant
authorities. These applications should also include economic studies and
environmental impact assessments, concerning not only the project sites, but
also on the extraction sites and the roads to be used for the transportation of
material. Hence, the authorities should be able to generate a global opinion
with full knowledge of the facts.

It is possible that, with these measures, Lebanon will lack sand, particularly due to the
protection of the large forests of the country. The imports and the shipments of sand,
e.g. from Egypt, could help stabilize the market prices.

It is also possible that future land reclamation projects become too expensive, on the
environmental and infrastructure levels, to allow authorizing new large scale landfill
projects of private nature. The crisis of the quarries should limit landfill practices to
only unavoidable public projects (ports, terminals, etc.).

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Figure IV.20: Areas to be Excluded from Quarrying Activities

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IV.8.2 Adapted solutions for sewage treatment

The main criterion for sewage treatment plants recommended by the National
Physical Master Plan is the preservation of public health through the protection of
water resources.

Priorities of Facilities

The rate of connections to sewer networks and the individual practices of wastewater
disposal still remain below the expected levels in almost all the country. The ultimate
objective would be to attain a total coverage of the entire territory, whether by sewage
systems or by individual solutions, with the guarantee of an adequate treatment before
their discharge into ground water, streams or into the sea. This should be
accomplished in phases, because of high costs and management problems:

1- In the short term, the priority should be given to 2 categories of “localities”:

− On one hand, mountainous regions located in areas of extreme vulnerability of

water table, tapped by downstream villages and cities for domestic supply: For
these regions, the works should encompass collection of sewage water as well
as treatment;

− On the other hand, in large agglomerations, where rehabilitation and extension

of networks is needed, treatment should be of second priority, except for
interior agglomerations (Baalbeck, Zahle-Chtaura and Nabatiyeh), where they
must constitute a priority.

2- A second phase will consist of endowing the isolated towns with more than 5 000
permanent residents (that represent altogether around 17% of the localities) with
collective treatment plants for groups of localities.

3- The last phase that will probably come at the end of what would be possible to do
until 2030 will concern towns with 2,000 to 5,000 permanent residents (25% of
the localities).

With the execution of the plan on the long term, almost 80% of the urban surface
would be covered.

Until then, it is important to refrain from executing collection networks when the
collected wastewater would be released into sites presenting a danger for downstream
water use for potable water or food supply (contaminated agricultural produce or
fishing).

Priorities of treatment plants

The Sewage Master plan adopted by the CDR, as a guideline for the investment in this
sector, was established in 1982, and updated in 1996.

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The planned wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) are currently 34, of which one is
already built and eight are in the pipeline for construction. It is therefore possible to
refine the criteria for the selection of the remaining 25 plants proposed in this Plan.

By adding the groundwater and surface water protection criterion to the other criteria
(the number of persons served, the possibility to reuse the effluent and the existence
of funds), it appears that the priority plants, in the CDR scheme, should be those of
Saghbine-Joub Jannine, Qaraoun, Hasbaya, Hrajel, Zahle, Jebrayel, Bent Jbayl,
Mishmish and Bakhoun, all of them located in the hinterland, characterized by high
risks of groundwater and surface water pollution.

The construction of these WWTP should be followed, in a second phase, by those of

Hasroun, Besharreh, Khenshara, Jbaa, Laboueh, Mazraat ech-Chouf, Qartaba, Anjar,
Amioun, Shaqra and Hermel, and then in a third phase, by those of Tyre, Tabarja,
Daoura, El-Aabdeh and Ghadir.

However, it is possible that additional investigation regarding the impact of

wastewater on the water table could lead to identifying other sites to be treated in
priority. Such a careful examination should be carried out essentially in the Cazas of
Chouf, Aaley, Matn and Kesrouane, characterized by important areas with high water
resources vulnerability. This investigation should lead to refining the CDR sewage
scheme, and deduce other priorities, particularly to protect the water resources of
Greater Beirut.

The construction and operation of domestic WWTP must be accompanied by the

implementation of MoE decision concerning industrial wastes, as well as article 39 of
Decree-law 444, dated July 29, 2002, concerning the protection of the environment.

The treatment of industrial wastes released into the Litani watershed should have a
high priority. Particular attention should also be granted to chemical and food-
processing industrial wastes in the rest of the country. It would be convenient as well
to allocate particular attention to car workshops illegal disposal of waste, especially in
high and medium mountain areas, where they could pollute the groundwater and
springs.

Management of the sewage sector

Management of the treatment plants is the responsibility of the 4 newly-created Water

Authorities, established in 2002. They are also responsible for the studies,
construction, operation and the maintenance of these plants and networks. This would
have a better consequence on the integration of the water sector.

Problems of expropriation and the disagreements of local population as well as the

divergence of opinions between various ministries have blocked many projects for
which funding had already been secured. In the future, it would be appropriate to
eliminate the overlaps of responsibilities that lead to these obstructions. The
responsibilities of the municipalities, the new water authorities, the Ministry of
Environment and the Ministry of Interior should be properly defined. In the same

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way, the need for skilled staff should be identified and technical and administrative
capacities reinforced.

Economic feasibility of the various projects must be judiciously studied. The adopted
level and technique of treatment should be closely linked to the construction and
operation costs. Many villages and municipalities could be regrouped, in most cases,
in order to decrease costs. It is important to study the issues of taxes, charges and cost
recovery mechanisms capable of assuring a balanced account of the sewage sector.

The amount allocated by the CDR for the construction of sewage projects for the
period 2003-2005 is around US$ 750 million. That is a significant amount, the
funding of which is obtained at 30% from external sources (and expected at 80% from
the same sources). However, the availability of external funding should not be the
determining criterion for identifying projects: On one hand, the external funding can
concern projects of less priority than others, and on the other hand, it can disappear if
the problems of local expropriation or acceptance by the population are not resolved.

IV.8.3 Solutions for solid waste treatment adapted to the local contexts

Similar to the sewage treatment sector, the main criterion for the solid waste sector
recommended by the Master Plan is public health, to which other concerns are added,
such as economy, preservation of environment and tourist attractiveness.

Domestic wastes

The domestic wastes issue concerns essentially disposal sites, whether they are
controlled dump sites or landfill sites coupled with sorting and recycling.

Optionally, the waste issue concerns treatment processes before disposal. Incineration
has been put aside for financial and environmental reasons. Recycling must be
encouraged, without forgetting that their development will certainly face financial
obstacles for a long time.

In the short term, it is crucial to remedy, as an emergency, the critical situation of

large agglomerations, especially Tripoli, Saida and Beirut, by mobilizing necessary
lands and by rehabilitating degraded sites. Together with this effort, it is important to
plan short-term solutions for the cities of Tyre, Nabatiyeh, Baalbeck and Jbayl,
followed by the rest of the country.

For the medium and long terms, a complete sorting, recycling and treatment plan
should be established and implemented.

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Figure IV.21: The Priorities in the Actual Sewage Master Plan

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The major factors to consider in the conception of landfill sites are the following:

1- The quantities received by these sites: they should be diminished; therefore, it

is important to reduce them at the source, to recycle and to transform the
wastes. The main aspects taken into consideration are:

− Reduction at the source, mainly by reducing wrapping material (that could

be taxed) or by using recycled, recyclable or biodegradable materials.

− Selective sorting, at the source (which improves the quality of recoverable

materials) or at the plant (material recovery).

− Recycling: The main issue to discuss in this matter lies in the widening of
the markets for recovered material and the encouragement/support of
recycling industries. At present, recycling is carried out at small scale;
more encouragements are needed to create a large scale operation.

− Composting: Currently, the Coral composting plant of Greater Beirut and

several small local plants are operational. The major problem is that, due
to bad sorting at the beginning, the quality of the compost is not accepted
by the farmers. Another problem is the low capacity of the plant, incapable
of treating all the organic materials produced in Greater Beirut. The
composting plant should be preferentially located near the sorting plants,
and close to major “consumers”.

2- Transportation distances: the sites should be located the nearest possible to the
waste sources or they should include a transfer facility in an appropriate
location. Their access should be always easy through the roads network.

3- Meteorological and hydro-geological conditions: These are important

environmental aspects to take into consideration. All the adequate
technologies for the monitoring and the reduction of environmental pollution
should be established. They include the selection of leachate management
(collection and treatment), the selection of gas monitoring (collection and
treatment) that include as well, if feasible, the transformation of gases to
energy, and finally the selection of environmental monitoring facilities (air
and groundwater quality, as well as monitoring of gas and liquid contents of
the vadose zone).

4- Selection of sites: The unions of municipalities, assisted by administrative and

technical support, from MoE and MoI at the Caza or Mohafaza level, should
unite their actions to select landfill sites and locations for sorting and
composting facilities. This should be carried out in the framework of a
pedagogic effort and public consultation, the omission of which could induce
trouble. The management and operation of the landfill sites are very important
as well. A private company could be hired for carrying these activities on
behalf of the municipalities, if these lack the technical and administrative

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competencies. The municipalities should be encouraged to sub-contract the

operation rather than counting on the CDR or other central administration.

5- Collection: The collection of waste is functioning relatively well;

municipalities have either commissioned private companies for the collection
or are collecting the waste by themselves especially in rural regions.

6- Rehabilitation of old dumpsites: Especially those of Saida, Tripoli and Beirut.

These dumps are causing major environmental problems and generate
important public turmoil. The introduction of new controlled landfills is
unavoidable in the Cazas, because the existing ones have reached their
capacity limits. The problem of Naameh landfill site is more than evident. It is
essential to examine the operation and control criteria to improve the present
situation.

Hospital and hazardous wastes

Hazardous waste dumpsites should be located away from residential areas, in areas
with suitable hydro-geologic conditions. The precautions to avoid environmental
pollution should be strengthened (transportation, emission, leachate, etc.). A hospital
waste treatment central incinerator has been planned, but no adequate site has been
identified yet. Four hospitals have their private incinerators, but their conformity with
environmental standards is unknown. The new public hospital of Beirut has installed
an incinerator with a capacity of 1.5 tons / day. Nevertheless, due to public pressures,
the hospitals have interrupted waste incineration and have replaced this practice
temporarily with autoclaving, until a permanent solution is selected.

Industrial wastes

Industrial wastes should be treated in situ according to their type, then transported to
the landfill sites. The MoE has already defined the criteria for the release of industrial
effluents into the public sewer systems as well as for conditions where pre-treatments
are required. These conditions are supposed to be immediately applicable for new
industries and a 5-year grace period is granted for existing industries.

Selection of dump sites

Lebanon should mobilize annually around 40 hectares of land for solid waste landfill
sites (with an average depth of 20 m), of which more than half is required to serve
Greater Beirut and Mount Lebanon. Nevertheless, this area could be reduced to 10-15
hectares, with an adequate compacting.

The selection of sites must be viable from the political, social and technical points of
view. Technical and administrative criteria must constitute the basis for the selection
procedure that, later on, has to account for political and social considerations.

The factors to be analyzed for determining the suitability of landfill sites are, in
particular, hydro-geology and groundwater, topography and environmental impacts.
Appropriate hydro-geologic conditions consist of a complex combination of type and

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depth of soil and distance between groundwater and the surface. As for potential
environmental impacts, the most critical is the degradation of water resources.

The sites, however, must be close enough to residential areas to reduce transportation
costs and time, but at the same time, distant enough to reduce land prices and to find
land parcels sufficiently large to accommodate those sites.

An overall analysis of the Lebanese territory, on the basis of these two fundamental
criteria (distance from urban areas and vulnerability of water resources), allows to
draw a map indicating the zones where establishment of landfill sites would be best
avoided (see the following map).

The sites with moderate or poor adaptability conditions, however, should not be
necessarily excluded, but it is noteworthy that these sites are more expensive to
manage (need for surface pavement and leachate collecting systems, etc.).

Several old quarry sites could be used as landfill sites, but this perspective should be
subject to specific case by case studies, measuring the risks for water and air
pollution, as well as the impact on public health, landscapes and sceneries.

Ongoing projects

Two projects that serve the Cazas of Jbayl (Hbaline: 120,000 m3) and Baalbeck-
Hermel (Taybeh: 151,000 m3) are under construction. The Hbaline project includes a
landfill site and equipment at a cost of US$ 7.2 million, funded by the World Bank.
The Taybeh project includes a landfill site, a transfer station in Hermel, the
rehabilitation of the uncontrolled dump site at Kayyal and the purchasing of
equipments, at around US$ 3.9 million also funded by the World Bank.

The CDR 5-year plan proposes the construction of controlled dumpsites in the Cazas
of Akkar, Tripoli-Zghorta, Besharreh-Koura-Batroun, Tyre-Bent Jbayl, Nabatiyeh-
Hasbaya-Marjaayoun and West Beqaa-Rashaya. This plan includes the construction
of transfer stations in Bent Jbayl and Marjaayoun-Hasbaya, as well as treatment plants
in Besharreh-Koura-Batroun, Tyre, West Beqaa-Rashaya, Saida, Tripoli and Zahle. It
also includes the rehabilitation of uncontrolled dump sites in the major cities of
Tripoli, Saida, Baalbeck and Tyre. It is important to allocate a site for Saida-Jezzine,
while Minieh could be connected to Tripoli-Zghorta.

The majority of the required works is already planned. They are essential for an
adequate management. Their execution depends on the financial feasibility study.

The approximate cost of these projects is roughly US$ 115 million (80% from
national funds): This cost does not include the possible site of Saida-Jezzine, but
includes the feasibility study for the transformation of wastes into energy in
“uncontrolled” dumps sites. The execution of this process in Bourj Hammoud could
be revealed very soon, as international funding is secured, but conditioned by the
contribution of US$ 3.5 million from national resources.

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However, environmental monitoring is still not considered in the budget of the new
dump sites.

USAID had allocated US$ 15.3 million for local waste management projects. They
would serve 446 000 persons in the 185 villages in Chouf, Jbayl, Jezzine, Hasbaya,
Hermel, Nabatiyeh and West Beqaa. They include staff-training projects. This type of
projects could be extremely beneficial for the towns, provided that the municipalities
participate actively and take control of the management later on.

Administrative aspects

The Ministries of Environment and Interior should work together for an adequate
management of this sector. The participation of the MoE in the choice of sector
strategy, in the selection of sites according to technical and environmental criteria and
in monitoring of the operation would be crucial for a sustainable management. The
participation of the MoI in identifying potential sites, expanding administrative and
financial know-how and every other support to the municipalities constitutes the
critical aspect of the success. The reinforcement of technical and administrative
capacities in these two ministries is essential for a successful and sustainable
management.

The financial situation of the municipalities is definitely the major constraint that
hinders the correct functioning of the waste management sector. Theoretically, the
municipalities have the right for taxes and remuneration from 35 different sources, but
they face major collection problems, without counting the retention of one part of
their revenues by the Government (that are allocated against expenses carried out by
the GoL on their behalf).

In order to change the situation, there are two reform aspects to be considered: either a
fixed allocation for waste management, regularly paid by the GoL to the
municipalities, or a real decentralization of responsibilities that would give the
municipalities more clear control over tax collection related to solid waste
management. This solution would be preferable, but it has to be implemented in an
inter-municipal framework (federations or union of municipalities).

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Figure IV.22: Guidelines for Excluding Areas from Sanitary Landfills

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CHAPTER V

PRINCIPLES OF LAND USE

The map of “soil vocations, assets and constraints” attached to this study shows the
general vocations of the soils, as well as their assets and constraints. It gives the general
framework for the elaboration of local urban planning documents, master plans, detailed
plans and regulations. It offers as well valuable indications for a certain number of
sectoral policies that make use of the territory in one way or another, such as solid waste,
sewage, industrial polluting waste or quarries.

The present chapter presents the recommendations of the National Physical Master Plan
related to Land Use in accordance with their classification as shown in this map.

These recommendations are presented respectively for:

− General vocations for land use: urban, mixed rural, agricultural rural, and natural;
− Constraints: floods, landslide hazards, and water resources pollutant vulnerability
areas; and
− Assets: major natural and heritage sites.

For a given location concerned either by a vocation and a constraint or an asset, or even
by the three of them, the relevant recommendations are compiled and the most “strict”
principles are applied.

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V.1 THE LAND USE PRINCIPLES IN URBAN, RURAL, AGRICULTURAL

AND NATURAL AREAS

V.1.1 Land use in urban areas

Urban areas correspond to the country’s large agglomerations. These areas were defined
taking into consideration their expansion for the coming 25 to 30 years. At present, they
already contain 2/3 of the resident population of Lebanon, and the majority of industrial
and tertiary activities of the country.

These areas are able to receive all kinds of dwellings, activities, natural and landscaped
areas, various technical facilities and equipment, etc. The only excluded land use therein
concerns quarry activities. The most hazardous industries could be established within
these areas, but on specific dedicated lands, separated from dwelling areas by a buffer
zone of non-polluting industries and open spaces.

High construction densities could be accepted within the center of urban zones, the
outskirts being endowed with specific regulations adapted to their situation and location.

Urban planning for these entities must be conceived by emphasizing the order (front
alignments, common parts, façades, etc.), functionality (traffic, parking, access to
facilities and commerce, etc.), urban quality, design of public spaces (the street, the
square, the pedestrian circulation, etc.), importance of trees and natural spots, and
privileged views (over the mountain, the sea, etc.).

Several parts of the urban areas are located in mountainous areas, and therefore have a
special residential character for summer holidaying or tourism. In these cities, relatively
high construction densities (6 or 7 levels) can be accepted in certain cases, although the
general recommended rule is to respect the height of middle-aged pine trees. It is
especially the urban character (alignments, heights, materials, architecture, etc.), the
vegetal cover and the remarkable heritage location that must be submitted to specific
limitations.

The development of these agglomerations along topographic contour lines, rather than
roads serving higher villages, will allow a more rational land use and a more pleasant
urban framework (just like it was in Aaley for example, after its development along with
the railway station at the beginning of the XXth century).

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Figure V.1: Urban zones foreseen by the NPMPLT

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V.1.2 Land use in the main agricultural areas

The main agricultural areas of national interest have been delineated within the rural
regions taking into consideration the best agricultural lands of the country, as well as the
perimeters concerned by irrigation projects. Hence, the natural land use in this area
should be limited, theoretically, to agriculture. The importance of this limitation is greater
since the majority of the large agricultural entities has high flood risks and must be
considered as unsuitable for construction.

The agricultural lands should profit from projects aiming at quality and output
improvements: irrigation projects, agricultural land consolidation, access to the lands, etc.
Such projects should be part of a national strategy for agricultural development by
modernizing the processes and means of production.

Isolated constructions on major agricultural lands

It is legitimate that the major agricultural lands of the country could, exceptionally,
receive buildings and infrastructure intended for farming or agro-industry that require
being close to the agricultural lands or even to the individual dwelling of the farmer or
the owner.

Besides, these agricultural lands of national interest should be restricted from commercial
real estate operations. What should be allowed is agricultural land consolidation or a
consolidation as a result of inheritance or land property shares, but never for real estate
housing developments. It is also important to avoid, in the absence of local urban
planning regulations, opening new agricultural roads or asphalting existing ones. The
classification of agricultural lands must precede opening or restoration of roads.

Wastewater treatment facilities, proposed landfill sites or other facilities that cannot be
located near villages could exceptionally be located on major agricultural lands, if no
other alternative is available in a given area. It is appropriate however to select, amongst
the lands, those with the least agricultural value.

Cities and villages within the agricultural areas

Some old hamlets in agricultural areas have developed, especially during the last 10
years, in the center of major agricultural areas. These have been often transformed into
real villages and even relatively important cities. The floods during the winter of 2003
have brought up the consequences of challenging nature and the natural vocation of
lands. Nevertheless, these cities and villages exist now and a policy for their development
should be defined. The only suitable policy consists of managing their urban
development as a close continuity of existing districts, as long as a local urban plan has
not specified other options.

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FigureV.2: Major agricultural areas of national interest foreseen by the NPMPLT

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V.1.3 Land use in the mixed rural areas

The mixed rural areas are areas that contain small cities and villages, agricultural lands
with modest dimensions or low productivity, as well as natural areas that could have an
importance at a local level, but not at a national level.

These areas are located outside the major agricultural areas of national interest.

The cities and villages of these areas benefit from agricultural, local trade, internal
tourism and eco-tourism income.

Construction in these constituted cities and villages

The relay-cities included in this area, with usually 3 000 to 10 000 permanent residents
(across the year), fill up the essential functions that serve surrounding villages. These
cities would be supported by urban planning and an architecture that respects the identity
of the area, especially in terms of construction materials, colors, and height of buildings.
As a common rule, it is appropriate to keep low construction heights, not exceeding, if
possible, the height of a middle-aged pine tree.

The villages, other than the relay-cities, should conserve their rural aspect, because this
constitutes an essential asset for their attractiveness and the quality of life for residents.
This can be done through the conservation of soft urban forms, especially as far as
building heights are concerned: the height standard will be defined by the local tradition
(G+2 usually), or by the height of a middle-aged pine tree. Once more, the material to be
used, the forms and colors should be in harmony with the local traditions.

Whether it is cities or villages, the dwellings in mixed rural areas should stay, as possible
as could be, clustered within a perimeter. Extensions outside existing districts should be
limited by adequate regulations established by local urban plans that should be
developed.

Sites of development outside town perimeters

Some building projects are located on parcels outside the perimeter of towns. These
parcels are therefore away from existing districts, and are located on agricultural or
natural lands.

Such projects could be small projects (a villa or a restaurant), medium projects (a

residential building or a hotel), as well as big projects (residential parcellation, seaside
resort, large hotel), and even larger operations (leisure club or large residential
parcellations).

The will to preserve agricultural and natural areas, and safeguard public resources and
finance, lead to implementing selective rules for this kind of projects.
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The general rule should be demanding: with the lack of approved local urban plan and
planning regulations in mixed rural areas, all residential projects, located outside the
perimeter of constituted cities and villages, should have a specific size. The objective is
not to authorize, outside the villages, except operations with a certain dimension that
justifies the provision of infrastructures (i.g. a minimum of 3,000 m2 of exploitable area
on a single parcel, or plots with a minimum area of 20,000 m2). These authorizations
should be coupled with the obligation, to the developer to finance the necessary
infrastructures (namely electric supply, water supply and sewage systems), and then
transfer them over to public property.

A greater flexibility for approvals should be provided to real estate enterprises (hotels and
restaurants, non-polluting industries, etc.), and for the establishment of hazardous
facilities and industrial zones outside villages and cities. However, this flexibility should
be coupled with stricter regulations in terms of architecture and compatibility with the
surrounding landscape.

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Figure V.3: Mixed rural areas foreseen by NPMPLT

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V.1.4 Land use in natural areas

Land use in natural areas is necessarily restrictive. Three entities are distinguished:

A - The high mountains above 1 900 m altitude;

B - The Cedar and mountain tree plantation corridor;
C - Valleys, forests of quality and other zones of ecological continuity.

A – The high mountain areas above 1,900 m altitude

Above the altitude of 1,900 m, and taking into consideration the fragility of the
environment and its sensitivity vis-à-vis the water resources and erosion risks,
modifications made by human intervention should be closely evaluated and reduced to
the minimum possible.

In case of absolute necessity, electricity poles, tele-transmission antennas, poles and

mechanical stations for ski resorts, and agricultural facilities (sheepfold, hill reservoirs,
etc.) or military installations could be accepted. The roads necessary for national
connections crossing the ranges of Mount Lebanon and Anti Lebanon, and shown in the
National Physical Master Plan should be managed in a way to reduce their environmental
impact on all levels.

Besides, it is appropriate to avoid creating new roads across the mountain peaks, and to
implement adequate rules to ban the construction of housing estates and quarries. The
Municipalities and the Government should also discourage all kinds of automobile sports
in these areas, for the considerable damages that these sports could cause, in an
irreversible way, to the wild flora species, and to the pollution risks of groundwater
resources.

The mountain peaks could be subject to strengthening legal protection measures, within
the framework of a Mountain Law.

B - The Cedar and mountain tree plantation corridor

The “Cedar and mountain tree plantation corridor” is located on the western slopes of
Mount Lebanon, between elevations of 1,500 and 1,900 m. It is appropriate to the
altitudes of the natural forests of the Cedar (Cidrus libani), as well as to plants of high
altitude.

This area, rarely inhabited, has a capital importance, in the sense that it represents the
emblem of Lebanon, the Cedar. The Cedar forests are in danger of becoming extinct
because of their scattered condition. The first objective of a reasonable management of

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this area would thus be to re-establish the ecological continuities all along this corridor,
by reforestations and valorization of associated natural sites.

This zone also includes rich agricultural areas, mainly containing fruit trees, vineyards
and seasonal vegetable crops. The development of agricultural activities, based on
adequate irrigation projects (especially from hill reservoirs) is not contradictory with the
abovementioned objective, as long as this activity does not break the ecological
continuities.

Finally, this corridor is also the area where ski resorts are located, with their
corresponding constructions: parking, host buildings, mechanical tow machinery, hotels,
restaurants, chalets, etc. It is rare to see constructions not linked to ski activities1. Ski
resorts could not be excluded from the “Cedar corridor”, but these tourist real estate
developments should be conceived respecting the natural vocation of the corridor.
Authorization requests for similar projects must imperatively be associated with detailed
environmental impact assessments (EIA), including the impacts of the resort buildings,
access roads and parkings, as well as related real estate developments (hotels, chalets,
etc.).

Concerning industry, the rule must be the exclusion of all industrial activities, other than
those of mineral water with the requirement of an EIA.

Other modes of real estate and road developments should be by principle banned.

C – Valleys, forests and other areas of ecological continuity

Besides the areas of mountain peaks and the Cedar corridor, areas of natural vocation
include 3 other categories: valleys, forest zones and other areas of ecological continuity.

The valleys

Lebanon’s great valleys are major elements of natural, tourist, landscape and agricultural
heritage. They control as well the quality of streams and rivers. Their preservation is
essential.

The most remarkable valleys are those of Nahr Moussa, Nahr Qadisha, Nahr el-Jaouz,
Nahr Ibrahim, Nahr Bisri (Barouk-Bisri-Awali), and the Litani “elbow” valley in the
South. Other remarkable valleys are those of Nahr el-Kalb, Nahr Beirut (valley of
Lamartine), Nahr es-Safa and Nahr ed-Damour.

For all these valleys, it is appropriate to implement specific regulations in order to

saveguard the natural characteristics of the valleys and to manage the urban planning of

1
The highest village of Lebanon, Bqaa Kafra, is situated between elevations of 1 500 and 1560 m. All the
other villages are below 1 500 m. The only secondary residences and chalets that are not directly linked to
ski resorts and that are beyond 1 500 m are those of Laqlouq.
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the surrounding villages. In parallel, actions should be undertaken for reforestation,

limiting solid and liquid waste discharge and preserving the steep slopes from soil
erosions.

These actions could be usefully supported and shared by municipalities concerned by

these valleys, developing together touristic, agricultural and environmental coherent
projects of high quality.

The same approach could be applied to less majestic valleys, facing similar problems.

In general, the projects to be developed by priority would concern sewage treatment,

solid waste management, quality of run-off water and management of the green
vegetation. Special eco-tourism activities and construction could be conceived, taking
into consideration respect of the environment.

Villages located on top of hills must be capable of developing in harmony with the
natural character of the areas. Architecture, building heights, materials, etc. must match
the natural set up of the village. Urban expansions must be in continuity with existing
villages. The sceneries must be preserved by regulations for buildings located downside
the cornices.

Building regulations for the villages located on steep slopes should be more severe.
Construction outside the perimeter of the agglomeration should be avoided and
constructions must avoid slopes higher than 30%.

In lowlands, the existing villages could develop in continuity with existing constructions,
with respect to the surrounding natural set up and avoiding the pollution of streams (even
the seasonal ones).

Industries could be accepted in these areas, but away from rivers and streams, provided
they are equipped with treatment facilities for their effluents.

The forests

Forests other than the “Cedar corridor” include primarily, on one hand, Firs and Juniper
(protected species in Lebanon, like the Cedar) and on the other hand, large Pine forests of
Mount Lebanon, the North and the South, and finally forests of Oak.

The Lebanese forests are nowadays located essentially (more than 80%) on public land
State-owned land, and on Meshaa and Awqaf lands. Therefore, it is appropriate first of all
to preserve the legal status of these properties everywhere forests exist and perpetuate.
Concerned authorities should establish management mechanisms, permitting the
maintenance of forests.

It is also vital that the woods and forests located on Meshaa lands be preserved, without
allowing any activity that might affect their development such as quarries or grazing.
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Concerning private forests, it is appropriate to take actions to save them not to become
extinct under the growing pressure of real estate activities. Hence, the authorities,
Government and Municipalities, should avoid road developments in forest areas. Strict
urban planning regulations should also orient constructions towards non-forest areas.

Other zones of ecological continuity

The National Physical Master Plan has defined zones of ecological continuity, other than
mountain peaks, valleys and forests. These areas play a major role in maintaining the
natural continuity between Mount Lebanon and Anti Lebanon, as well as between the
mountain ranges and other remarkable natural entities, especially the region of Naqoura
in the South and Nahr el-Kabir at Wadi Khaled in the North.

In these zones, the priority should be given to the natural setup. Regulations for
Construction and other activities should be defined in accordance with this objective.

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Figure V.4: Natural areas of national interest foreseen by NPMPLT

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V.2 RULES TO RESPECT IN AREAS WITH IMPORTANT SITES

(ARCHEOLOGY, HERITAGE, EXCEPTIONAL NATURAL SITES)

Many Lebanese regions have important advantages that could be exploited in a

sustainable way. These advantages represent an asset that could constitute a source of
income for many generations. Therefore, it is essential to preserve and exploit these
regions.

These advantages or assets are:

− Landscapes;
− Historical heritage; and
− Coastal areas.

V.2.1 Landscape assets

Landscape assets can be major physical landscapes, picturesque villages, natural wonders
or important natural sites, sites of exceptional scenaries, etc.

Major landscape entities

Other than the coastline and the landscape of large agricultural plains (Beqaa, Akkar,
southern coast), Lebanon possesses other major landscape entities that constitute its
identity, its quality of life and its tourist attractiveness. These are in particular:

− The high valley of Nahr Abou Moussa / Nahr el-Bared in the Akkar;
− The valley of Qannoubine (Holy valley);
− The high valley of Nahr el-Jaouz;
− The high valley of Nahr Ibrahim;
− The high valley of Nahr el-Kalb;
− The valley of Nahr Beirut (valley of Lamartine);
− The valley of Nahr el-Barouk / Nahr Bisri / Nahr el-Awali;
− The valley of Nahr Litani between Qaraoun lake and bridge of the Qaaqaaiyeh;
− The highlands of Mount Hermon;
− The hills of the South (Caza of Bent Jbayl); and
− The valley of Yammouneh.

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Land use in all these regions should take into consideration the need to preserve this
natural wealth. This should be done through the implementation of strict rules on
construction heights, materials and construction development, since bad construction
wrongly implemented or located can deteriorate a whole landscape.

It is also appropriate to avoid quarry activities that could endanger the character of
landscapes.

Inter-municipal programs could usefully help these regions through valorization actions:
plantations, organization of site visits, advertisement billboards, etc.

Picturesque villages

The number of picturesque villages has significantly decreased in Lebanon during the last
20 to 30 years. However, there still remain a large number of them, characterized by
traditional architecture (stones, arcades, tile roofs, etc.) or a particular configuration of
streets and buildings (terraces, tiers, stairs, semi-private roads, etc.) or other particular
elements (vegetation, site, etc.).

The picturesque character of a village has always been a considerable factor of its
summer holiday and tourism attractiveness, and constitutes therefore an appreciable
source of income for the inhabitants.

Local authorities should establish regulations and enforce them to strengthen this
character.

Remarkable natural sites

The National Physical Master Plan has listed some of extremely valuable natural sites,
the absolute protection of which is a national stake. The cascades of Jezzine, the natural
bridge of Faqra, numerous grottos and caves, etc. are only a part of the Lebanese
remarkable natural sites.

All available legal instruments must be mobilized to assure the strict protection of the site
in a restricted perimeter, and its valorization in a larger perimeter.

The restricted perimeter must include the site itself (sink of Balaa, bay and rock of Grotte
aux Pigeons, natural bridge of Faqra, etc.). There should be an absolute protection against
all construction. The access to these sites must be executed with natural material like
sand or stone, to avoid damaging the natural set up, with concrete for example.

The enlarged perimeter extends to a radius to be defined according to vision and access to
the site. Adapted rules of construction and management must be decreed in order to
preserve the scenery and reduce negative impacts of expected constructions, installations
and facilities that may, if introduced, obstruct vision of these sites. In general, industrial

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establishments, high-tension electricity pylons, and all polluting activities should be

avoided in this perimeter.

V.2.2 Historical heritage assets

The historical heritage, whether it is archeological or recent, has vital importance in the
tourist economy and in contributing to the country’s history.

Classified historical sites

The historical sites enlisted in the Directorate General of Antiquities (DGA) are sites
known for their important historical, cultural, heritage and often tourist value.

The local urban plans should preserve these sites with strict measures.

The local urban plans should identify protection perimeters around these sites and define
valorization methods adapted to the situation of every site and endowed with adequate
valorization regulations.

Non-classified built heritage

Ancient districts of cities and villages represent often a major interest in terms of
heritage, culture, etc. The example of rehabilitated and safeguarded districts in the
downtown of Beirut shows the attractive power of these areas.

Many Lebanese cities, and the majority of the villages, contain entire districts with
valuable heritage that contribute to their identity.

Local urban plans and other legal and technical instruments should be mobilized to
safeguard and bring out this wealth and its related memories.

V.2.3 Coastal zone assets

The valorization of the coastline is important not only for tourist development, but also
for the quality of life in coastal cities. It requires a series of complementary regulation
and operational measures that should converge to give Lebanon back its agreeable and
attractive coastline.

The major assets that the coastline offers are:

− Sandy beaches, very limited along the coast (about twenty);

− Exceptional sites (Ras Chaqaa and Enfe);

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− Remarkable natural sites, such as cliffs, rocky capes, bays, natural wonders and
others (about ten);
− Natural shorelines with high ecological and landscape values, such as dunes,
natural wild media, rocky plateaus, islands, etc. (about ten);
− Urban seashore promenades and cornices (shorelines of large cities);
− Picturesque ports (of coastal cities).
The preservation and valorization of these assets require a more severe re-definition of
possible and expected coastal land use, especially on maritime public domain and
neighboring lands.

The National Physical Master Plan recommends the following actions:

For sandy beaches

The sandy beaches, which are maritime public domain, constitute a rare resource in
Lebanon. Therefore, it is important to assure free access to the public, to protect these
beaches from sand extraction and litter disposal, and to properly manage and maintain
them.

Opening of the sand beaches to the public should be carried out in the framework of a
global free sea-access policy and free passage width of minimum 3 m along the coast.

For the exceptional sites of Enfe and Ras Chaqaa

The coastal site of Enfe, with its Phoenician wall, its Salinas and stones, should be
enlisted as a historical heritage, as well as natural heritage (Reserve).

The Ras Chaqaa site deserves to be classified as a natural reserve. This is currently being
studied by the MOE.

The classification of these sites must be accompanied by action plans aiming at restoring
and preserving them, and organizing tourist visits to the sites.

For remarkable natural sites along the coastline

The Lebanese coastline has a few numbers of natural sites that constitute an integral part
of its identity and give to the neighboring towns a special advantage in terms of quality of
life and tourist attractiveness.

Along the Northern coast, these sites are gradually diminishing. Other than the Palm
Islands, the remarkable natural sites are limited to the sites of Enfe and Ras Chaqaa, as
well as to the bay of Jounieh. Their character should be preserved against every whim to
change it, whether it is through inconvenient landfills or other jetty and bridge projects.
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The sandy beaches of Chekka, Batroun, Jbayl and Maamelteïn are the last sandy beaches
remaining in the northern coast of Lebanon.

In Beirut, the sea front of Aïn Mreïsseh, the rock and the bay of the Grotte aux Pigeons,
as well as the white trail of sand of the Ramlet Bayda are three remarkable sites that are
an integral part of the capital’s identity. Here again, it is imperative to preserve their
natural status and character against every possible development project.

Along the Southern coast, sand beaches are more numerous: Jnah (to be re-oriented to
seaside use), Khaldeh, Damour (sand and pebble), Jiyeh, Rmaileh, Saïda, Sarafand,
Aadloun, Qasmiyeh and Tyre (at its north as well as at its south). Other remarkable
natural sites are much more preserved: capes (Saadiyate, Nabi Younes, Sarafand, etc.),
cliffs (Bayada, Naqoura) or coastal freshwater springs (Ras el-Aïn, to be rehabilitated),
etc. It is essential to preserve this wealth that represents a sustainable support to tourist
and social development.

For the seashores with high ecological value

It is appropriate to underline the high ecological value of certain parts of the Lebanese
seashore, for the protection of terrestrial as well as maritime natural media. It is
especially the case of the maritime façades of Akkar (dunes), Tripoli-Qalamoun, Barbara,
Jbayl-Maameltein, Sarafand, Qasmiyeh and Tyre-Naqoura.

The ecological wealth of these zones is often linked to alluvial deposits (Qasmiyeh, Nahr
Ibrahim, Nahr el-Bared and Estouane, etc.), to the preserved condition of natural systems
(dunes, rocky plateaus) and to the surrounding urban pressure.

It is important to manage these parts of the coastline taking into consideration that these
are the last sections of the natural coast still undisturbed by human activities and
intervention.

The development projects of these zones should be submitted to EIA studies once they
exceed a certain dimension. The MoE and the authorities in general should monitor the
proper management of these seashore sections.

For the seashore promenades and cornices

The seashore promenades and cornices constitute an unequalled wealth for the coastal
cities. They are the natural escapes of the residents of these cities, as well as important
tourist spots.

The municipalities have been aware of this wealth, which explains the attention that has
been always given to the cornices, such as in Tripoli – El-Mina, Beirut (Aïn Mreïsseh,
Raoucheh, Ramlet el-Bayda), Saïda and Tyre.

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It is important to preserve and develop this wealth, and to avoid, for the existing cornices,
blocking the views of the strollers (as is the case of some places in Beirut). It is also
required to create new cornices for coastal cities that do not have yet any.

For traditional ports

Picturesque ports follow the same logic of the seashore cornices, to which they are almost
always connected. They are “traditional” fishing harbors, such as in Tripoli, Jbayl or
Tyre. In these three cities, it has been proven that the preservation of the traditional
character of these harbors exerts an exceptional attraction over tourists and wanderers.

As such, it is important to preserve this asset from any possible mismanagement that
could abolish this attraction power. It is also important for cities that possess such
harbors, but haven’t highlighted their value, to strive for their adequate management.

These harbors remain first of all fishing harbors that need regular maintenance and
modernization. However, their tourist asset, which represents a significant source of
indirect income to the fishermen themselves, should not be lost2 as a result of any
modernization activity.

For public access to the seashore and the use of maritime public domain

In the particular case of Lebanon, marked with numerous coastline abuses, the definition
of a coastline wealth valorization strategy requires necessarily resolving of the issue of
the maritime public domain use, as well as the use of its surroundings.

The maritime public domain, in the Lebanese legislation (the decree 144/a, dated 10 June,
1925), is defined as being the aquatic port and the coast to the farthest distance the waves
could reach in winter, as well as sandy and pebble beaches. The seawater ponds and
marshes linked to the sea are also a part of the maritime public domain.

The first rule to restore in this matter is the issue of free public access to the seashore.

The National Physical Master Plan recommends the establishment of a systematic

continuous servitude of 3 m wide passage in contact with the sea, except on dangerous
sites (rocky cliffs, escarpments, etc.) or on zones reserved for industrial (commercial
ports, factories, pipelines, etc.) or military uses.

Beyond this 3 m wide passage, the general rule is that the maritime public domain must
remain non aedificandi, but can receive provisional facilities (without foundations) of
seaside resorts that are dismantled at the end of each season. The municipalities should
specify the conditions of installing these facilities.

2
This orientation is however in perfect harmony with the strategy that should be adopted for the fishing
sector, namely the upholding of traditional fishing that can support a large number of families in a numerus
clausus assuring them a sufficient income given the low wealth of the Lebanese waters with plankton.
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In some cases, the Government could authorize, by special Decrees, the provisional use
of maritime public domains by the bordering property owners for tourist or industrial
purposes. These exceptional legal dispositions should not be in contradiction to public
Laws. There has been an extensive interpretation of the Law that prohibits the use of a
maritime public domain surface of more than twice the surface of the bordering parcel.
Thus, the developer finds himself systematically granted the right to use the maximum
surface (twice the surface of his parcel); and in case, the coast does not offer the totality
of this area, the remaining part is taken from the sea, often as landfills or marinas with
jetties.

The National Physical Master Plan could not recommend dispositions that are not in strict
respect of the Law. It is thus important that everyone that has encroached illegally on
maritime public domains, with fixed installations, withdraw into their private parcel and
dismantle the totality of these installations on public domains (dwellings, hedged
gardens, swimming facilities, hotels and restaurants) as soon as possible. This measure
does not exclude the possibility, if the law authorizes, of granting the users the
permission to establish temporary installations, but the situation concerning taxes and
indemnities (for the previous illegal occupations) should be settled first.

The objective is to institute a situation in which seaside resorts benefit financially from
the services they offer to the visitors, rather than from the “privatization” of portions of
public property.

The case of “hard” constructions on the maritime public domain, especially hotels and
marinas, built previously and in a semi-legal status (as they have been authorized by
decree) should be treated case by case, seeking the best way to allow free public access to
the seashore. The beneficiaries should at least execute at their expense compensation
measures that allow the public to by-pass the obstacles on their way to public properties,
and concurrently, they should settle their taxes and fines with the public Treasury.

For the future, it is recommended that the decrees authorizing the use of public domain be
based on a public interest notion that figures in the law and should foresee the conditions
in which the public could have free access to the shore.

When requests for public domain occupation concern remarkable coastal sites (cliffs of
Bayada, springs of Ras el-Aïn, Grotte aux Pigeons, etc.), the decrees will have to specify
that the natural set up of the coast can not be modified in any case and that all fixed
installations are prohibited.

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V.3 THE RULES TO RESPECT IN CONSTRAINTS PRONE AREAS

(NATURAL HAZARDS AND WATER RESOURCES VULNERABILITY)

V.3.1 Flood hazards prone areas

The National Physical Master Plan has mapped the flood hazards prone areas. They
consist of 3 categories:

− Flood prone areas due to shallow water table, beneath a porous soil, where water
level is likely to rise, as a result of a significant water runoff (it is the case of
plains, namely the Beqaa and Akkar);

− Flood prone areas due to the increase of river flows (it is the case of Abou Ali and
El-Kabir rivers, for example);

− Flood prone coastal areas induced by high tides.

Some areas are subject to all these three types of flood hazards, such as the Qasmiyeh
plain.

The precautions to be taken in these areas should assure the safety of inhabitants, the
safety of people going to schools, hospitals etc. and the safety of properties. The forms of
construction that render the soil impermeable that would increase the flood intensities and
create obstacles to water flows are to be avoided.

Hence, the rules to be considered are the following:

− Highly reduced construction rights;

− Prohibition of real estate development for residential purposes;
− Non-establishment of public facilities;
− Non-obstruction of river flows;
− Construction of a “piles floor” that would be considered as a separate floor;
− The prohibition of closed fences, in order to facilitate water drainage;
− The obligation to maintain a minimum of 80% of lands with garden, lawn,
orchard or vegetables (non-impervious soils).

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There are however cities and villages in Lebanon that have developed in the center of
flood prone areas. In these cities and villages, the above-mentioned rules should keep on
being implemented, as long as the flood prone perimeter has not been protected by
adequate construction. The execution of such works is possible for floods induced by
torrential river runoffs. On the contrary, it is impossible for floods caused by the rise of
the water table in plains.

V.3.2 Landslide prone areas

In landside prone areas, it is imperative that urban planning regulations reduce the
possibilities of construction on higher than 10% natural slope lands. Excavation and
filling works that would decrease the slope are not adequate solutions; they could even
worsen the problem.

Certain regions are subject to general landslide hazards that concern tens of neighboring
villages. In such cases, the entire region should be subject to a specific urban planning
policy that intends to reduce urban development.

Industries and public facilities should not be accepted in these zones. Quarries, housing
parcellations and large scale constructions should be submitted to environmental impact
assessment studies.

V.3.3 Areas of extreme water resources vulnerability

The zones of faults and fractures represent an extreme danger for groundwater pollution
and consequently, for water resources that supply domestic and potable water demands.

Different treatments should be considered for every situation:

− Where water vulnerability zones are already urbanized, it is imperative to

construct, as soon as possible, necessary wastewater treatment plants, as well as to
transfer solid waste, and to regulate activities by prohibiting generating
workshops and factories producing chemical pollutants.

− Where water vulnerability zones are used for agricultural purposes, work should
be carried out towards decreasing the use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides,
and to converting towards organic agriculture or returning to the land its natural
condition. It is also important to take legal measures limiting the possibilities of
construction and prohibiting the establishment of polluting activities therein.

− Where water vulnerability zones are still in their natural condition (forest, scrub,
bare rocks, etc.), it would be appropriate, as far as possible, to maintain this
condition and to avoid urbanization.

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Impact assessment studies should be a condition for allowing construction in these areas.
Authorization for housing parcellation projects in these areas should be conditioned by
the construction of sewage systems (wastewater and rainwater), prior to the construction
of access roads and any other construction.

These preventive measures will be clearly less expensive on the health of the population,
as well as on public and private finances, than a policy that would only remedy the
effects of carelessness in groundwater pollution issues.

V.3.4 Major industrial hazards prone areas

There are numerous industrial zones in Lebanon that present major hazards in case of
fire, an explosion or an accidental leakage of dangerous solid or liquid wastes. A safety
perimeter, according to the danger extent, should be considered in urban planning. In this
perimeter, it would be appropriate to avoid residential development, and if dwellings
exist already, to avoid their expansion. School and health care facilities, and more
generally, all public facilities or activities should be prohibited.

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Figure V.5: Sites with especial assets foreseen by NPMPLT

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Figure V.6: Vulnerable Areas Taken into Consideration by the NPMPLT

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V.4 OVERALL PRESENTATION OF NPMPLT’S RECOMMENDATIONS

FOR LAND USE

In order to clarify previously mentioned land use regulations, these have been
summarized in three tables in the following pages.

The entire territory is covered by the classification of table 27, which means that each
area in Lebanon is classified as U, R, A, N1, N2 or N33. On the other hand, tables 28 and
29 concern only one part of the territory: those that are subject to constraints (table 28)
and those that possess major assets (table 29).

The vocation map allows assessing the situation of each zone in the territory
(classification U, R, A, N1, N2, N3 / Asset description / Existence of constraints). It is
thus appropriate to refer to the corresponding column in table 27 and eventually to the
columns concerning the given area in the tables 28 and 29.

For a given area concerned by both a vocation (table 27) and a constraint (table 28) or an
asset (table 29), or the three of them, the considered recommendations are added and it is
the most “severe” principles that are adopted. For example, in an “R” class area (Rural)
subject to a flood hazard, the recommended density of construction would be “very low”
(as indicated in table 28) and not “average” (as indicated in table 27).

The areas covered by approved local urban plans remain managed by these plans, as long
as they are not modified, or a higher regulation (general decree, law, etc.) that would be
contradictory to their dispositions is not decreed.

The elaboration of new local urban plans or amendments of old ones should respect the
rules considered in tables 27, 28 and 29. However, if a deeper knowledge of the local
geographic realities, while elaborating new plans, lead to minor adjustments of the rules
making them more rational, this adjustment could be beneficial but should be seriously
justified.

The particular case of areas not-covered by approved local urban plans

Land use regulations in the areas without local urban plans should evolve: the new
regulations should respect and implement the dispositions of tables 28 and 29. As far as
building permits are concerned, their classifications in these regions as U, R, A and N
will not be taken into consideration: all regions that are not covered by a local plan

3
The category “A” (Agricultural domain of national interest) includes essentially agricultural lands, but
also the villages at their center. The category “N” (Natural domain of national interest) includes essentially
natural areas, but also the villages at their center.
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should be endowed with a restrictive “national regulation”, inspired from the one
considered for zones A (Major agricultural domain) in table 274.

Table 27: Recommended regulations for construction, quarries and industrial

establishments in Urban, Rural, Agricultural and Natural areas

U R A N1 N2 N3
Urban Rural Agricultural Peaks Corridor of Valleys & links
Cedars
Compactness5 Not required, Recommended mandatory Not applicable mandatory mandatory
of urbanization except for forest (no
area boundaries urbanization
possible)
Density (Built High, except Average in Average in Construction Very low except Low, except in
up surface near forest areas towns, low on towns, low on limited to for ski resorts center of cities
areas) outskirts, very outskirts, very military and (average and villages
low in forest low on distant technical density) (average) and
areas areas, in forest installations prohibition on
areas and in (pylons) slope > 30%
large agricultural
entities
Heights High, except in G+2, except in G+3 in centers Not Applicable G+1, except in G+3 in center of
forest areas towns (G+3) of towns, G+2 center of towns towns, G+2 on
on suburbs, G+1 (G+2) and ski suburbs, G+1 in
in sensitive areas resorts forest,
(forests, (considered in agricultural and
groundwater large scale natural areas
intakes, …) projects)
Classification Yes In continuity Only in No Only in Only in
of housing with villages, continuity of continuity with continuity with
parcels otherwise min. villages villages villages, over
10000m2 on 20000m,2otherw
agricultural ise for tourist
lands and projects only,;
20000m2 on with landscape
forest lands compatibility
study
Large scale Yes except Yes Only in No Ski resorts; only Tourist projects;
projects forest areas continuity with with EIA with
outside villages compatibility
agglomeration study
Quarries No Prohibited in Yes No No Prohibited in
woods. With an EIA and woods.
Accepted within reclamation of Accepted within
a min. distance agricultural a min. distance
of 500m away lands of 500m away
from streams from streams
and villages; and villages;
with EIA with EIA
Industries Yes; Yes Only for No Only for Only for
with pollutions industries not mineral water industries not
and hazards polluting industries; with polluting the
impact agricultural soils study of agriculture,
assessment; and landscape streams and
study of compatibility forests
landscape
compatibility

4
The works started in 2004 by the Higher Council for Urban Planning on regulations for non-covered
regions have concluded to a regulation proposition coherent with the column A of table 27.
5
Compactness of urbanization = continuity of built up area regarding the limits pf the existing towns
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Table 28: Recommended regulations for construction, quarries and industrial sites,
and infrastructures in natural hazards prone areas

Flood Risk Landslide risk Extreme vulnerability of

water table
(regulations for lands classified (regulations for lands classified (regulations for all lands
as flood prone areas by as landslide prone areas by classified in this category by
NPMPLT and for which no NPMPLT and for which no NPMPLT
technical study has been carried technical study has been carried
out proving that the project and out proving that the project
its road are safe from any flood does not present any threat to
hazard and that the project itself its future dwellers, nor that it
does not worsen the situation provokes the aggravation of this
on the premises) hazard all around)
Urban Expansions accepted only at the No particular limitation No particular limitation
agglomerations edge of existing villages
Density Very low Very low, and prohibition on Average in U and R, low in A
(Built up surface slope > 10% and N3, very low in N2, no
areas) construction in N1
Heights G+1 including eventual floor on No construction in N1 No particular limitation
piles G+1 including eventual floor on
piles in U, R, A, N2 and N3
Construction 80% of the land should stay as 80% of the land should stay as No particular limitation
setbacks garden to help water infiltration garden
Classification of On immediate borders of cities In immediate border of cities Conditioned by the execution of
housing parcels and villages and via a technical and villages and via a technical appropriate sewage works (total
analysis that proves absence of analysis that proves the absence treatment) before construction
flood hazard on the project and of danger on the project and the of any road and building.
nonexistence of hazard nonexistence of hazard
aggravation on the aggravation on the
surroundings surroundings
Large scale No No Conditioned by the execution of
projects outside appropriate sewage works
agglomeration before construction of any road
and building.
Isolated No No Yes in U;
constructions Accepted only for certain
building types in R, A and N
(harmless public infrastructures
and agricultural installations)
Quarries Prohibited in U, N1 and N2; Prohibited in U, N1 and N2; Prohibited in U, N1 and N2;

In A, R and N3, a technical In A, R and N3, a technical In A, R and N3, conditioned by

analysis proving the absence of analysis proving the absence of a technical analysis proving the
flood hazard on the project and danger on site and the absence of rocky blocks
the nonexistence of hazard nonexistence of landslide destabilization risks that could
aggravation on the hazard aggravation on the induce groundwater system
surroundings. surroundings. deregulations.
Industries Accepted only for industries Prohibited for all categories Accepted only for industries
that do not release toxic and that do not release chemicals
dangerous chemicals that could and solid wastes, the
be spread into the ground in degradation of which
case of floods constitutes a pollution threat
Public facilities No No Conditioned by the
establishment of adequate
sewage solutions.

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Table 29: Recommended regulations for construction, quarries and industrial sites in
and around distinguished sites

Within large In picturesque 500m around In forests 500m around 500m around
landscape villages remarkable classified historical groups of
perimeter natural sites and archeological traditional built
(inland and sites heritage
coastal)
Urban Required (in mandatory Study of Study of Study of landscape Study of
agglomerations continuity of landscape landscape compatibility landscape
cities and compatibility compatibility showing the absence compatibility
villages) showing the showing the of a negative impact showing the
absence of a absence of a absence of a
negative impact negative negative impact
impact
Density Low, except in Low, except in Nil within a radius Very low if Nil outside cities and No particular
(Built up surface Relay-Cities Relay-Cities of 50m, very low authorized villages; very low in limitation
areas) between 50 and (5%) R, A and N; to adapt
500 (except in U: according to each
to adapt according case in U
to each case)
Heights G+1 in flat G+1 except G+1 except G+1 if G+1 within a radius G+2 in R, A and
terrain and max. picturesque Relay-Cities (G+2 authorized of 500m in R, A and N and within a
5m above natural Relay-Cities (G+1 or more according N, and within a radius of 50m in
terrain if or G+2 according to cases) radius of 50m in U; U; to adapt for
slope>15%, to cases) to adapt for each each case
except in Relay- case between 50 and between 50 and
Cities (G+2 and 500m in U 500m in U
10m)
Constructions No particular Study of Minimum 50m No particular Minimum 50m from Study of
setbacks limitation landscape from the edge of limitation the edge of the sites landscape
compatibility the sites compatibility
showing the showing the
absence of a absence of a
negative impact negative impact
Classification Submitted to Submitted to To avoid No Submitted to Submitted to
of housing landscape impact picturesque analysis showing no analysis
parcels assessment study character impact negative impact showing no
assessment study negative impact
Large scale Submitted to Submitted to No No No Within a radius
projects landscape impact picturesque of 100m, visual
assessment study character impact impact
assessment study assessment
study required
Isolated parcel No except in Submitted to Study of No Study of landscape Submitted to
construction immediate compatibility landscape insertion showing compatibility
continuity of study insertion showing the absence of a study
villages the absence of a negative impact
negative impact

Quarries No No No No No No
Industries Submitted to Only harmless No No Only harmless Only harmless
landscape activities activities activities
compatibility
study

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CHAPTER VI

THE FIRST IMPLEMENTATION PHASE OF THE NPMPTL

What measures should be taken to start implementing the National Physical Master
Plan? What are the main concerned administrations? What is expected from each of
them in the immediate and medium terms?

Answers to the above questions are given in the present chapter.

In order to be perfectly functional and assist the concerned ministries or public

establishments to easily identify their relevant work, the actions proposed in this
Chapter are listed by sector.

These actions are of various types. They concern:

− Large scale projects, which should be given priority in order to achieve the
proposed development strategy;

− Planning works, which should be carried out at different scales;

− Legal propositions capable of assuring better control of urban development

and equilibrium of land use and regional development; and

− Institutional propositions which are oriented towards the above mentioned

objectives.

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VI.1 TRANSPORTATION

Budget priorities:

The expenditures allocated to transportation should be re-evaluated in order to give

priority to three types of interventions:

− Maintenance and rehabilitation of the national road network;

− Execution of necessary projects to avoid traffic jams in the Central Urban

Area (CUA); and

− Execution of road projects to comfort traffic in the capital of the North

(Tripoli), as well as in poles of the East (Zahle-Chtaura) and the South
(Nabatiyeh).

The acknowledgment of these priorities should help to postpone new road projects
that are out of these categories, at least until the time when the national network is
judged satisfactory and the major traffic problems are adequately solved. It leads also
to postponing expenditures on the Port and the Airport of Beirut, and to moderate
ependitures on fishing harbors.

Priority projects:

Priority projects for the existing network are the following:

− Rehabilitation and maintenance works that should cover the entire national
network on the basis of a systematic program of works handling major deficits
and improving the entire network to an acceptable level. The financial
envelope allocated to these works should consequently be increased, even if
this leads to the reduction of the budgets of less urgent new works.

− Release, reconstitution and preservation of the old railway lines for future use
as inter-urban rail lines. This constitutes a strategic option, which should be
readied for as soon as possible. The longer the delay, the more difficult it will
be to recover the old railway lines.

The priority projects required to solve the traffic problems in the Central Urban Area
are:

− Turning the old railroad between Beirut and Antelias into a closed corridor, as
a first stage, for public bus transports serving specifically Beirut and the upper
regions of Matn;

− The construction of a new coastal road between Bourj Hammoud and

Antelias;

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− The widening of the coastal road crossing Zouq and Jounieh; and

− The project of the Arab expressway between Laylakeh and Aaley.

The priority projects of Tripoli and the other poles are:

− Upgrading of the Port of Tripoli, the road section of the North highway
between Tripoli and Halba, and operation of the railroad between Tripoli and
the Syrian network;

− Execution of the section of the Arab expressway crossing Chtaura, including

solving the traffic problem of the Chtaura-Zahle-Damascus crossroads, and the
improvement of the Zahle-Baalbeck connection through Nabi Chite and Britel
(new connection);

− Rehabilitation of the roads around Nabatiyeh, especially upgrading the link

with Marjaayoun and Hasbaya on one hand, and Chehabiyeh on the otherhand.

Protection of investments

The Ministry of Transport, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior, should be

more strict vis-à-vis the suppression of illegal practices along the highways, namely
the private openings executed for private commerce or private access.

A special vigilance in monitoring is needed in this field, all along the South highway,
on the Zahrani – Nabatiyeh expressway, along the North highway between Antelias
and Dbayeh, and between Jounieh and the northern border with Syria.

The same should be applied on new highway sections that will be executed along the
Beirut-Damascus axis.

Regulation of public transport

Regulation of public transport should be done with the strategic objective of

developing medium and high capacity buses in order to reduce road traffic problems,
especially along the inter-urban axes. This policy implies taking measures for
progressively shifting the activity of small cars towards the taxi practice (point to
point trajectory), and towards the absorption of the so-called “taxi-service” (random
multiple stop trajectory) until its final prohibition on the highway. This could require
progressive repurchase of small cars licenses, as soon as they are on the market.

Organizing authority

The establishment of a transport organizing authority on the entire Central Urban

Areas (from Nahr Ibrahim to Nahr Damour) is important in order to reach the
objective of NPMPLT in the region. This authority should be competent to handle the
entire public means of transport and one part of the road network to be accurately

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defined (expressways and large axes). It would be alone responsible for planning of
new works, rehabilitation and maintenance, traffic signs, and the regulation and
pricing of public transports.

VI.2 TOURISM

The Ministry of Tourism could contribute towards a balanced national land

management by defining clearly its geographic and sectoral priorities, in accordance
with the following:

− Coordinate with the municipalities of Tripoli, Baalbeck and Tyre to implement

a promotion policy for these three cities encouraging investors in the hotel
sector and to elaborate a regional tourist development plan.

− Cooperate with the Ministry of Transport and municipalities to improve the

road and tourism signage system all over the country.

− Conceive, with the help of tour-operators, tourist products (tours, organized

trips, etc.) in the North, East and South regions of the country and promote
them to potential clienteles.

− Establish a policy of classifying rural dwellings (summer holiday room-

renting inhabitant) and promote seasonal renting in the regions.

− Allocate to cultural tourism, rural tourism and eco-tourism a privileged

attention compared to other forms of tourism (luxury tourism) that are more
attractive these days and need less promotion efforts.

− Contribute to the reinstatement of seaside tourism, and support appropriate

free public beach sites for mass tourism (Tyre and similar examples).

VI.3 INDUSTRY

The priorities of the Ministry of Industry logically pivot around the reduction of
production cost as well as on promotion of exports. Other policies are important to
implement in order to encourage the industry, organize it in a better way and make it
contribute to the economic boom of the regions.

− The reduction of the energy cost is a crucial objective for the industry. The
Ministry of Industry should work hard to accelerate supply of natural gas to
the power generation plants, starting with Deir Amar plant, and to condense,
on the long term, energy production in the gas operated plants.

− The interest of the industry requires also the availability on the market of
reasonably-priced, accessible and well-equipped industrial lands. The National
Physical Master Plan recommends the development of 3 industrial zones of
national interest, north of Tripoli, towards Rayak and at Zahrani. These

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projects should be studied and executed. They should also benefit from a
promotion policy to encourage investors.

− The Ministry of Industry is responsible for health and safety norms. It should
grant a higher attention to major hazards (explosions, fires, chemical pollution,
etc.) in residential areas, such as in some suburbs of Beirut.

− Similarly, a special attention should be given to groundwater pollution hazards

from industries established in unsuitable locations. The Ministry of Industry
could cooperate, on this issue, with the Ministry of Energy and Water
(MoEW), the Ministry of Environment (MoE) and the Directorate General of
Urban Planning (DGUP) to elaborate special regulations using the maps of the
National Physical Master Plan.

VI.4 AGRICULTURE

The Ministry of Agriculture has an essential role to play in land management. Its
contribution could be reinforced through the following orientations and actions:

− Promote to decision-makers, municipalities and farmers the notion of

“agricultural domain of national interest”, highlighted by the National Physical
Master Plan, using soil suitability analyses. This awareness is necessary to
preserve on the long term the agricultural assets of Lebanon.

− Coordinate efforts with the DGUP to establish the regulations for preservation
of this national agricultural wealth.

− Follow-up with the Water Establishments the ongoing irrigation projects,

while coordinating with the DGUP to protect the lands concerned by these
projects against non-agricultural uses and to secure the permanence of heavy
investments.

− Improve the production lines, and work to reduce the costs and increase the
quality of productions.

− Help provide adequate water irrigation systems adapted to the most fragile
soils, especially in Hermel and the valley of Aassi.

− Support the municipalities in establishing proper management plans for

grazing and forest areas, especially in the desertification, landslide and erosion
prone regions.

− Implement actions of interest to agriculture, livestock farming and forest

proposed by the National Physical Master Plan for combating desertification.

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− Launch and support innovative projects for encouraging agro-industry,

including freshwater and marine aquaculture experiments in the North
(Akkar).

− Promote, in close links with the MoE, the notion of “natural domain of
national interest” highlighted by the National Physical Master Plan, which
includes among others the projects of “Cedars and mountain trees corridor”
and “Green valleys and links”.

− Undertake reforestation campaigns in the framework of the “cedars corridor”

project and other reforestation projects.

− Organize, manage, protect and exploit the forests and other green areas, in
collaboration with the relevant authorities (municipalities, waqfs, private
sector, etc.); promote the exploitation of forest by-products other than wood;
and participate in the management of protected areas.

− Participate in the elaboration and the implementation of the Mountain Law.

VI.5 EDUCATION

The main orientations that contribute to the land management policy in the field of
education, are:

− Reorientation of government policy in providing school seats in the public

education sector as well as in technical and professional education:
reinstatement of the decree fixing the minimum number of students per school
at 75; and limiting the new offer only for regions where public education is
demanded and for regions where present schools are in poor conditions, rented
or inadequate.

− Reorientation of government policy for new schools in technical and

professional post-baccalaureate education, following the same logic.

− Evaluation of the Lebanese University’s new sites, based on the

recommendations of the National Physical Master Plan, namely 4 major
campuses: Hadath, Tripoli, Zahle and Nabatiyeh, by regrouping the branches
of a same faculty on one site, and distributing the faculties on the 4 sites.

− Rehabilitation of the school map as a main tool for the projection of the
number of students, the geographic areas to be served and planning for new
schools.

− Clarification of complementarities that should exist between the public and

private education sectors: in the current state of public finances, and as long as
the Government succeeds in having the private sector implement its national
education orientations, the public sector should not be in competition with the

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private offer, but instead it should provide high quality education services for
the regions and social categories deprived of private education.

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VI.6 ATTRACTION OF INVESTMENTS

The priority measures to be adopted for this sector concern the following points:

− Creation of 3 agencies for promoting and encouraging investors to establish

themselves in the large growth centers, namely Tripoli, Zahle and Nabatiyeh.
These agencies could be created within IDAL development agency or as ad
hoc missions associating IDAL to the Chambers of Commence and
professional groups and municipalities.

− These 3 “development agencies” should produce communication media for

investment opportunities in development projects inspired from the National
Physical Master Plan. They are supposed to highlight all measures of support
and encouragement foreseen by Law of August 16, 2001 related to the
development of investments.

− A retrospective benefit to cost evaluation by IDAL should be carried out of the

various measures and operations applied on investments that benefited from
important derogations of the construction mechanisms or the occupation of the
public maritime domain. The objective of this evaluation would be to
determine the proportional benefits of Lebanon from these
projects/investments versus the impacts on the non-renewable resources.

VI.7 ENVIRONMENT

The Ministry of Environment (MoE) is highly concerned by the land management

policy, due to its influence on the use of, and the negative impact on natural
resources.

Hence the contribution of this Ministry would be essential for establishing the land
management strategy.

The guidelines that could be the most efficient, at a first stage, would be the
following:

− Launching the important project of “Cedars and mountain tree cultivation

corridor” by the MoE in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture. It is an
important program for reforestation and for integrated management of the strip
between elevations 1,500 and 1,900m.

− Collaboration between the Ministries of Agriculture and of Tourism with the

DGUP for the preparation of a framework law for the mountains, defining the
management of all areas located above 1,000 m elevation in 3 brackets: 1,000
to 1,500 m; 1,500 to 1,900 m; and above 1,900 m.

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− Collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture and the DGUP for the
preparation of a Law on “regional natural parks”. The National Physical
Master Plan has identified 6 potential sites, namely Qadisha, Jaouz, Ibrahim,
Ras el-Matn, Barouk-Bisri and Naqoura.

− Supporting the emergence, at a first stage, of the “regional natural parks”, on

the sites for which preparatory work is advanced as well as for Naqoura,
which should be properly managed ahead of the encroachment of the urban
pressure.

− Collaboration between the Ministry of Agriculture and the DGUP to launch

the project of the national natural park of North-Lebanon. This would require
a prior assessment of the fauna and flora resources, as well as the geological
and hydrological wealth of this area. This project requires also consultation
with, and support of, local stakeholders.

− Establishing, in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, a framework

law on the protected areas in Lebanon, introducing a distinction between the
notions of protected sites, protected reserves, national parks and regional
parks. This Law should also define the notions of confined and wide
perimeters of preservation.

− Launching an inventory work for the identification of natural sites to be

protected (grottos, cliffs, fossil deposits, natural bridges, valuable geological
formations, wetlands, etc.). The National Physical Master Plan has located a
series of sites of these types. The MoE has also undertaken such a project for
some categories of these sites. These studies should be completed and each
site should be analyzed, identifying protective measures to be taken for its
preservation.

− Launching a new land-use mapping. The MoE, in collaboration with the

Ministry of Agriculture, produced the first national map of this type in 2002,
using 1998 satellite images. This type of work should be repeated every 5
years on average.

VI.8 POWER

For the sector of power, the priority measures recommended by the National Physical
Master Plan are the following:

− Give absolute priority to the transmission of gas to the Deir Amar power plant.

− The next priority project concerns improving the security of power supply
through the inter-connection of Lebanese and Syrian networks.

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− Launch a strategic vision on the power production plants in Lebanon, with the
objective of reducing their number, thus contributing to the decrease in
production costs.

− Combine this vision with a medium term plan for increasing production
capacities and rehabilitation of some plants. In this matter, the National
Physical Master Plan recommends, very clearly, to close systematically the
inappropriate plants (starting from Zouq) and to concentrate the investments
on 2 or 3 priority sites, especially Deir Amar.

− Redefine the investment program in the North, by renouncing to the Selaata

plant (the environment of which should be preserved) and by concentrating on
Deir Amar and the old refinery site.

− Launch an experimental program for wind power generation in Akkar, and

another one for the promotion of solar energy in northern Beqaa.

− Act vigorously for “disconnecting” the social policy of the Government from
the energy distribution service: if a support is to be envisaged for vulnerable
groups of people, this should be carried out through social assistance from the
Government and not through exonerations – in terms of dues or capacity –
from paying the bills of the electricity company. EDL’s balance of accounts is
a crucial element for reducing the energy bill paid by the economic actors, and
hence for competitiveness. When a group of people is incapable of paying its
electric bills (case of certain districts of totally deprived populations), it is the
duty of the Government to decide – according to its social policy – to pay
these bills on their behalf.

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VI.9 WATER AND SEWAGE

The priorities in this sector are presented as follows:

− It is appropriate first of all to better control the water resources, and this
requires a better knowledge of the water balance and of the water quantities
extracted and used by public and private actors. This requires a campaign for
measuring and studying the water resources. The pertinence of planning the
investments and management of this sector depends on these actions.

− Concerning the increase in distributed quantities to domestic and commercial

use that should constitute the first priority of this sector, it would be
appropriate to concentrate on modernization of and reducing leakage rates
from water distribution networks rather than increasing the volume of
mobilized resources as is the case in general. Every new investment is
considered lost by half since unaccounted-for water is as high as 50%.

− Establish, within each Water Authority, a plan to close all illegal water wells,
concurrently with the achievement of satisfactory water supply.

− Carry out the necessary measures in order to “disconnect”, like in the case of
power, the social policy of the Government from the water distribution
service. If a support is to be envisaged for deprived groups of people, this
should be carried out through social assistance from the Government, rather
than through exonerations – in terms of dues or capacity – from payment of
actual service bills. However, this disconnection could take-place only when
the service reaches an acceptable level and the management services regain
the consumers’ trust.

− As for the water storage dams, the short and medium term plans would not
allow constructing more than what has already been contracted out, namely
Chabrouh and Aassi. Later, the priority dam projects would be those of Noura
Tahta, Bared, Iaal, Younine, Massa, Bisri, Damour and Ibl Saqi.

− Concerning irrigation projects, it is appropriate to complete what has already

been engaged, especially the Conveyor 800 for South Lebanon, through
designing the distribution networks, accelerating the cadastral coverage of the
concerned area, and establishing the regulation that preserves the agricultural
character of the irrigated lands. The same should apply to Aassi, Noura Tahta
and Hasbani.

− For wastewater treatment plants, the priorities should be directed towards the
regions where wastewater threatens groundwater resources. According to
preliminary analyses carried out within the framework of the National
Physical Master Plan, this should concern, most off all, the cities and the
regions of Saghbine-Joub Jannine, Qaraoun, Hrajel, Zahle, Jebrayel, Bent
Jbayl, Mishmish and Bakhaoun. As a second stage, action should be

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concentrated on Hasroun, Besharreh, Khenshara, Jbaa, Laboueh, Mazraat ech-

Chouf, Qartaba, Anjar, Amioun, Chaqra and Hermel. The projects of Tyre,
Tabarja, Daoura, El-Aabdeh and Ghadir should be considered only as a third
stage.

− As for the sewage system in the large cities where wastewater treatment is not
a priority, the efforts should concentrate on rehabilitation of the sewage
networks, where it is deemed necessary.

VI.10 SOLID WASTE

The rational management of wastes in Lebanon faces three obstacles: institutional

(distribution of responsibilities between the ministries of Interior and Environment,
and the municipalities), financial (the municipalities do not have the necessary funds
to finance this sector) and social (the location of the dump sites and treatment plants is
rejected by the municipalities planned to receive them).

Hence, the priority for the Government should be to eliminate these obstacles. The
National Physical Master Plan recommends the following initiatives on the short
term:

− Proceed to the definition of responsibilities on the basis of a clear

decentralization of waste management to groups of municipalities that could
be the existing Federations of Municipalities or other new groups to be
responsible only for waste management.

− Make sure the created groups of municipalities have the necessary resources to
face this problem. The ideal solution consists of attributing to the
municipalities’ domestic waste taxes and their collection, and adding therein a
Government share to poor municipalities in order to balance inequalities of
resources.

− Fix to the municipalities, thereafter, a plan showing the expected objectives

and the schedule of implementation. The non-satisfaction of these objectives
could be sanctioned by decreasing the Government contribution, which will
push municipalities to increase their tax, and manage their own finances.

− Give the MoE the prerogative to contest the locations of landfills decided by
the municipalities based on environmental impact assessment if sites were
judged unacceptable for public health considerations (impact on water
resources, agriculture, fishing, etc.).

− Foresee financial compensations that groups of municipalities would pay

annually (for example per ton) to the municipality that would accept the
construction of a landfill or a treatment plant within its jurisdiction area.

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− Until these reforms are implemented, ongoing projects, listed on the CDR
program, would have to continue. They concern Hbaline, Hermel-Baalback,
and projects for Akkar, Tripoli-Zghorta, Besharreh-Koura-Batroun, Tyre-Bent
Jbayl, Nabatiyeh-Hasbaya-Marjaayoun, West Beqaa-Rachaya, Saïda, Tripoli
and Zahle. Looking for solutions to the saturated landfill of Greater Beirut
should continue as well. But it is unlikely that these projects will be executed
in the coming 5 to 10 years. Only sizeable reform of the abovementioned
competences and funds could solve the conflicts around this issue and give
sustainable results.

− The Government should also solve the problem of hospital and industrial
wastes. It is the duty of the MoE to establish the regulations of these 2 issues,
in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Health for hospital wastes and the
Ministry of Industry for industrial wastes.

VI.11 HEALTH

Within the context of the land use plan, the expected initiatives of the Government in
the health care sector are the following:

− The health sector requires major efforts in balancing supply and demand of
health services. The establishment of a health plan map is a necessity for the
regulation of the supply in the regions (hospitals, health care centers,
dispensaries), but also technical plateaus (number of beds for short, medium
and long stay, medical and para-medical staff, etc.).

− Health care services should not be conceived only in the framework of

hospital structures and health care centers: home hospitalization and
ambulatory health care formulas constitute lower cost alternative solutions that
should be encouraged and established.

− It will be appropriate, according to an accurate evaluation of needs, to

establish an expected balance between public and private offers. In the current
situation of public finances and the fact that health care cost is being paid by
the user himself and by the relevant social funds equally to the private and
public sectors, the public sector should refrain from creating an offer wherever
the private offer is already satisfactory.

The problems of improving quality of health care services in all regions, the control of
health care expense, the access of deprived people to health care and the progress to
be made in the field of preventive medicine are certainly the most important aspects
of the health sector, but they have not been considered since they do not have a direct
relation with land use planning.

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VI.12 ADMINISTRATIVE , LOCAL DEMOCRACY AND THE TAX SYSTEM

The objectives of national cohesion, complementarities between regions and

reasonable management of resources often face facts that result from administrative
divisions of the territory and democratic territorial representation rules.

Hence, the National Physical Master Plan recommends debating the following issues
and reforms:

− The suitability between the territorial representation system and the

distribution of the total number of population: the elections by district are
carried out in Lebanon based on the official registration of the electors in their
home town origin and not their actual residence. In the large agglomerations,
often the majority of the resident populations do not participate in the election
of those that influence their daily life. In rural zones, permanent residents are
submitted to the choice of representatives imposed by non-residents that are
often more than the residents. This issue deserves a serious reflection,
especially in a highly urbanized country like Lebanon.

− The suitability between the territorial realities and administrative divisions: the
agglomerations of Beirut and Tripoli encroach on numerous Cazas, creating
thus a double inconsistency. On one hand, the Cazas become composite units
containing a suburb of a large city that “operates” with this city – located in
another Caza – and less with its hinterland; and a rural hinterland that does not
operate with the mentioned suburb (which belongs to its Caza), but instead,
with the city located in the other Caza. On the other hand, the 10 larger
agglomerations of Lebanon are deprived from united authorities (over the
central city and the suburbs) capable of solving the problems in a global
vision (for example, transport in the Greater Beirut region, or wastes in the
region of Tripoli or Saida). Therefore, a reflection on the pertinence of the
Cazas, and on the means to create agglomeration authorities is crucial.

− The suitability between the local tax system and municipal expenses: the
municipal authorities lack the means to face the numerous responsibilities
conferred to them by the law. The local development is highly obstructed by
this condition. The decentralization issue provides the best opportunity to
profoundly review the Lebanese local fiscal law.

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VI.13 FINANCES AND CADASTRE

The recommended actions within the competence of the Ministry of Finance concern:

− The cadastral coverage of Lebanon; it should be absolutely completed as soon

as possible. It represents first a tool that facilitates the property registration
procedures for citizens, and help establishing the land use regulations for
territories with high urban pressure, or for zones that are concerned by public
irrigation projects or expropriations for road and other projects. Moreover, the
lack of land registry (cadastre) in some regions provokes illegal practices of
appropriation of other peoples’ properties, public domains or Meshaas. It is
therefore an important measure for many aspects.

− The reform of local finances, in order to allow the municipalities to assume

correctly their responsibilities that are crucial for local development, the life
condition of every person and the environment.

− The reform of fiscal property, the proceeds of which should go to the

municipalities. Concerning the urban planning, the priority measure should
consist of introducing a “legal ceiling density”, which is a threshold of the
construction coefficient beyond which the construction is highly taxed (at the
cost of land required to build legally within the threshold). The ceiling could
be fixed by a percentage of the authorized construction area coefficients in
each zone (e.g. payment is done starting from 80% of the authorized
coefficient), this percentage being lower for regions with no local urban
planning (e.g. 50%). The proceeds of this tax should be affected by the
municipalities to the extension of road networks and equipping new zones
with infrastructure and public buildings. The idea behind this measure is to
affect one part of the land-improvement added value, due to the situation of
the land, to public effort necessary to accommodate the expansion of
constructions.

VI.14 URBAN PLANNING

The measures to be taken in this sector are numerous and diverse, due to the strong
interaction between land management and urban planning.

Legislative and legal reforms

The legislative and legal reforms to be launched as of the publication of the National
Physical Master Plan should concern a series of problems highlighted by this Plan:

− The construction regulations in the regions that have no local urban planning
(80% to 90% of the territory): the current system that allows the construction
of 4 levels with a coefficient of construction of 0.8 to 0.9 in all these regions is
not only harmful for sensitive areas (natural or agricultural) but leads also to
strong local opposition every time a local urban plan is envisaged. This

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condition obstructs the process of urban planning throughout the country,

except within the perimeter of large cities (where it is rare to envisage a
decrease in coefficient). It is vital for Lebanon to reform this situation by
reversing it: the building rights should be the lower possible as long as a local
urban plan is not approved.

− The possibilities of housing estate development in regions that do not have

local urban plan: these possibilities should be severely restricted when the
projects are not located in the direct continuity with built up areas of cities and
villages. A real estate project located away from inhabited zones should not be
authorized if it is not equipped with a road, potable water supply, sewerage
network and electrical network. Even if these conditions are satisfied, the
project should be submitted to an environmental impact assessment, and its
authorization should be conditioned by the construction of the infrastructure,
at the expenses of the project developer and prior to any building permit.
Finally, the more the project is distant from inhabited areas, the larger the
surface area of the new lots should be and the construction area coefficients
reduced.

− The anticipation, in the local urban plan, of future housing estate projects:
when a local urban plan is being elaborated or reviewed, it is necessary to
preserve the area for a main road that would serve all possible future extension
districts. The housing estate projects should respect these road alignments.

− A legal framework for the mountain: with the coordination of the Ministry of
Environment, the Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Tourism, the
Directorate General of Urban Planning (DGUP) should work towards the
conception of a legal framework defining the principles of land use in the
mountain, according to 3 ranges of elevation: from 1,000 to 1,500m; 1,500 to
1,900m; and above 1,900m.

− A legal framework for the coastal zone and the water streams: the protection
dispositions of the current legislation seem insufficient to protect the public
domain and preserve the quality of the water, the shores and the river banks. A
complementary legislative effort should allow modernizing the concepts and
give solutions to the new practices and threats against the coastline and the
water streams.

− The introduction to the Law of Urban Planning and Law of Construction new
dispositions concerning natural flood and landslide hazards.

− The participation with the MoE in the elaboration of new legal framework
concerning the protection of the natural wealth (localized natural sites with
restricted and large perimeters, protected forest areas, natural reserves,
regional natural parks, national parks, etc.).

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In general, the DGUP will have to engage an important juridical and legal project on
the basis of the dispositions recommended by the National Physical Master Plan. This
project should be carried out methodically and financed up to the extent and value it
represents to the Administration.

Urban planning operations

The National Physical Master Plan recommends launching, at the initiative of the
Government, a series of urban planning operations, the juridical form of which is to
be defined according to the objectives and the context of each of them.

− In the short term, it is important to achieve the operations already started,

namely the Beirut Central District and Elyssar projects.

− A third operation seems to be determinant in the short term which is the

“southern terraces” of the Caza of Aaley that covers the zone between
Khaldeh and Damour. This area seems to be an obligatory extension area for
the agglomeration of Beirut towards the South. It is important to equip this
area with adequate road network and infrastructures, allowing a coherent
urban planning, which is not currently the case, due to the configuration of the
authorized housing estates, the lack of infrastructures, the illegal connections
to the highway, etc. It is important, at the same time, to plan a smart
management of this zone that could highlight the configuration of the site,
constituted of western slopes towards the sea. All of this requires land
consolidation, infrastructure funding and construction regulation. The
infrastructure funding could be secured by a totally new mechanism: some
lands would have higher construction area coefficients than the current
regulation could assign, but this density increase would be payed at the price
of the land surface area that would be necessary under the old coefficient. The
proceeds of this tax would be paid to the developer in order to execute the
infrastructure over the entire zone.

− Later on, or simultaneously, other urban planning operations should be

conceived and launched on strategic locations: the vicinities of Nahr Beirut in
the close suburb and in the city (new districts to be developed), the northern
coastal zone (new road to cross along the coast), the vicinities of Chtaura-Jdita
(new district to be created), a site to look for in Nabatiyeh (new district to be
created), the northern extension of the Central Urban Area between
Maamelteïn and Nahr Ibrahim (similar to Khaldeh-Damour).

Local urban plans

Several local urban plans should be elaborated or reviewed in conformity with the
perspectives of the National Physical Master Plan.

The geographic locations where it is appropriate to intervene as a priority (besides the

southern and northern extensions of the Central Urban Area, being treated as an urban
planning operation) are:

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− The Nabatiyeh Plan that should take into consideration the status of the
“metropolis of balance” proposed for this agglomeration and the perimeter of
which should be widened to contain the entire plateau.

− The Zahle-Chtaura-Qab Elias that should take into consideration the status of
the “metropolis of balance” proposed for this agglomeration, as well as the
Arab highway, the will to preserve the agricultural lands and the management
operation that should take place in the sector of Chtaura-Jdita.

− The Enfe-Chekka Plan, a site where important industries, a site of high

environmental value (Ras Chaqaa), many sites with important heritage value
(Phoenician wall and Salinas), beaches and landslide and flood hazards are
located at the same time,.

Beside these local plans to elaborate and implement in accordance with the normal
procedures, more specific local plans should be established in priority on certain
zones that are threatened by urban linear expansion and scattered invasion of
agricultural lands, particularly the following zones:

− Aabde-Halba (including the desire to reserve an important industrial zone in

this sector);
− Rayak-Baalbeck (including the desire to reserve an important industrial zone
in this sector); and
− Baalbeck-Laboueh.

The DGUP should be present on all potential sites of natural parks as a partner with
the promoters of these parks (municipalities, associations, MoE, etc.) to establish
together the new regulation that should match with the objectives of each park. This
concerns the following regions:

− The triangle Qobeyat-Sir-Jbab el-Homr;

− The valley of Qadisha;
− The valleys of Jaouz and Nahr Ibrahim;
− The valley of the tributaries of Nahr Beirut (Ras el-Matn);
− The valley of Barouk and Bisri; and
− The region between Tyre and the southern border.

An urban development agency

The low level of infrastructure utilities in the new urbanized areas and the alarming
linear development of constructions alongside interurban roads between the villages
are the consequences of the lack of efficient tools to manage the urban extensions and
the offer of lands for construction.

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To resolve this problem, it would be necessary, in the situation of Lebanon, to create

an “urban development agency” in the form of a commercial autonomous public
office.

This agency would have the duty, over the entire territory, to carry out missions for
the Government (all administrations that may request the assistance) or the
Municipalities, in the following fields:

− Acquisitions of lands in a friendly way;

− Leading the implementation of expropriation procedures;
− Conception and implementation of land consolidation and reparcellation;
− Construction of infrastructures on public percellation and urban expansion
areas; and
− Resale of lands after their management.

The activity of this agency would aim first at the management of extension zones of
the agglomerations.

The operation expenses of the agency should be covered from a share cut from the
remunerations of engineering missions as well as from the added value of the lands as
a result of the management improvements.

VI.15 CENTRAL SUPPORT TO THE LAND MANAGEMENT

The above-mentioned missions in the various sectors show that land management
concerns in essence all the administrations. However, the consistency of the operation
should be monitored and managed and a central support should be provided to the
various administrations to ensure success.

Two parts are to be distinguished: on one hand, the actions of awareness, capacity
building and encouragement, which are logically the responsibilities of the Ministries
of Administrative Reform and of Information; and on the other hand, the management
and control of the applied policies, which are the responsibility of the Council of
Ministers and the CDR.

As far as awareness and capacity building are concerned, the following are proposed:

− The Ministry of Administrative Reform could start a program of capacity

building of the civil servants of all the Ministries to make them acquire the
basics of land management, so that each one of them takes into consideration
the “land management” concept in his day to day work in the Administration.

−The same kind of work must be done at the municipality level. The Ministry
of Administrative Reform has taken the initiative of such a task, through the
program that has already been launched and with the help of the EU, inciting
neighboring municipalities to join their efforts to elaborate a vision for the
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development of their territory, compatible with the objectives of the land

management.

− At the public level, the Ministry of Administrative Reform and the Ministry of
Information could conceive awareness campaigns through the mass media
(TV, Radio, written Press), that would cover specific topics directly connected
to land management and that could promote new behaviors vis-à-vis the
territory. They could also organize various events on relevant issues. They
could finally act more specifically towards the teachers who would sensitize
the growing generations to respect the land and the behavior of the citizens.

As for the public policies piloting and control mechanism, the followings are
proposed:

− The establishment of an “Inter-ministerial Committee for Land management”

procedure, which would meet once every year to evaluate the tasks executed
(compared to the fixed objectives) and to decide on the projects to be
undertaken.

− Taking into consideration its situation and its jurisdictions, the CDR is the
only administrative and technical body that assures, within the Government,
the coordination of the programs and actions that contribute to the realization
of the land management objectives. Therefore, it has to play the central role in
the preparation of the duties of the “Inter-ministerial Committee for Land
management”, and then the coordination of their implementation.

− The CDR has created, within its Directorate of Programs, a land management
department. The latter should make sure that the “Land management program”
is included, in every investment program. It should also control closely the
public actions (investments, legislations, regulations) conducted by the
different administrations, analyze them and suggest the necessary corrections.

− This department will have also to manage the spatial database that have been
produced by the National Physical Master Plan, and that are compiled in a
“Geographic Information System”. The management of this database should
be active and in partnership with those concerned. Besides operating this
system for the analyses, it is necessary to update the data continuously and to
enhance them. For this purpose, the ideal procedure would consist in creating
a network of partners (or a “users’ club”), especially with the DGUP, the MoE
and the National Center for Scientific Research – National Center for Remote
Sensing (NCRS). Each member of this network would be engaged to improve
the information related to his field of work and to store them in the common
database.

_____________________________________________________________________
DAR – IAURIF December 2005
L0215-RPT-13 REV 0 Page VI- 20 of 20
National Physical Master Plan of the Lebanese Territory
Final Report

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The Project Team extends his gratitude to the following persons for their support and
valuable advice:

Mr. Rafic Hariri, Prime Minister

Ministers and former Ministers

Mr. Nagib Mikati, Mr. Marwane Hamadé, Mr .Walid Joumblatt,
Mr. Michel Moussa

Mr. Jamal Itani, President of CDR

Mr. Joseph Abdel-Ahad, General Director of Urban Planning
Mr. Hisham Nasser and Mr. Karim Yazbeck, Vice Presidents of CDR
Mr. Ghazi Haddad, Secretary General of CDR
Mrs. Wafa Charafeddine, Manager of Finance Department in CDR
NPMPLT project coordinator in CDR (phases 1 & 2)
Mr. Ibrahim Chahrour, Manager of Programs Department in CDR
Mr. Bachir Mounla, former Manager of Programs Department in CDR
Mr. Sami Feghali, Head of Land Management Department in CDR

Also to

Mr. Fadi Fawaz, at the cabinet of the Prime Minister, and his co-workers
Members of the Higher Council for Urban Planning
Mrs. Samar Ramadan, Secretary General of the Higher Council for Urban Planning

The Project Team extends his gratitude as well to the General Directors
of the group of Administrations & Public Establishments who have supported this work
and have supplied the data and analyses necessary for the study.

The Project Team extends his gratitude to the Presidents and Members of Municipal
Councils who were interested in this project, participated in the consultation, and have
welcomed holding meetings in their offices

The Project Team extends his gratitude to the Presidents of the Orders of Engineers and
Architects of Beirut and Tripoli, Mr. Sobhi Bsat & Mr. Fouad Daher
As well as the former President of the Order Mr. Aassem Salam,
Former General Director of Urban Planning Mr. Mohammad Fawaz,
Former Director of CERMOC Mr. Eric Huybrechts
Professors-Researchers of the Lebanese University, American University and
Académie Libanaise des Beaux Arts (ALBA)
Researchers of the Institut Français du Proche Orient,
Associations for the defense of the environment
Associations of engineers and architects
and to all who have contributed in the debate of the National Physical Master Plan.
National Physical Master Plan of the Lebanese Territory
Final Report

THE PROJECT TEAM

This report has been prepared by the group DAR-IAURIF, composed of

Dar-al-Handasah (Shair & Partners) and the Institut d’Aménagement et
d’Urbanisme de la Région Ile-de-France (IAURIF) consultancy offices

This group was represented by Mr. Riad Mneimneh, Director of Operations at Dar
Al-Handasah (Shair & Partners).
-----------------------------------------------

The Project Team DAR-IAURIF was composed of around thirty experts, two thirds of
whom are Engineers and Urban Planners at Dar-al-Handasah and IAURIF.

The Project Team was led by Mr. Fouad Awada (IAURIF), Director, assisted by
Mr. Bassem Nsouli (DAR) and Mr. Jean-Louis Pagès (IAURIF), Assistant Directors.

Cross coordination of the economic and public political studies was handled by
Mr. Charbel Nahas (Freelancer).

The sectoral studies were handled by 6 sectoral coordinators:

Mr. Bassem Nsouli – DAR – (Equipment); Mr. Kamal Hamdan – CRI – (Socio-
Economy); Mr. Suhail Srour – DAR – (Infrastructures); Mr. Jean-Louis Pagès –
IAURIF – (Urban Planning); Mr. Bernard Cauchetier – IAURIF – (Natural Resources);
Mr. Ghassan Alam – DAR – (Transport).

Other experts on the Team were:

Dar-al-Handasah: Dunia Tabet, Joumana Hoteit, Abdel Ghani Chehab,

Bilal Raad, Hader Hout, Richard Timberlake, Nabil Haddad, Issam Ghalayini,
Rami Beydoun, Mohammad Badreddine, Nizar Azar.

IAURIF: Christian Thibault, Sophie Foulard, Ludovic Faytre,

Sandrine Barreiro, Pierre Merlin.

Consulting and Research Institute: Kawthar Dara, Rana Chreim.

Architects: Habib Debs, Jacques Liger-Belair, Georges Khayat.
CNRS- National Center for Remote Sensing: Mohammad Khawlie, Ghaleb Faour.
ECODIT: Karim Jisr.
Freelance Experts: Khalil Abou-Rjaili (Education) and Nadim Karam (Health).

The General Secretariat of the project was assured by Bilal Raad (DAR)
and Mohammad Badreddine (DAR).

Other specific short assignments were provided by:

Walid Bakhos, Architect; Dominique Colonna, Geographer;
Laurent Gauthier-Falret, Urban Planner; Lina Hawi, Architerct-Urban Planner;
Walid Yazbeck, Architect; Dima Younès, Economist.