A Shifting Landscape with Sarah Yassine (Ep.444)

An episode covering the BIEL displaced encampment, public vs private property disputes, the former Normandy trash dump and Solidere's reconstruction efforts in retrospect.

We also discuss missed opportunities and alternatives to Solidere, post-civil war urban landscape beyond the company's zoning, gradual urban decay over the past fifteen years, competing narratives over resistance and the existential security threat Hezbollah's weapons pose to Lebanon.

With landscape architect and urbanist Sarah Yassine.

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Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:26 Tent vs govt 1:42 Displacement & choice 4:50 Public vs private property 7:32 A series of mistakes 12:10 Normandy trash dump 14:29 Solidere 17:42 Encountering Hezbollah pre-2019 21:17 Doubting the resistance narrative 27:34 Alternative to Solidere 34:34 Killing Lebanon 36:23 Precedent 43:05 Security threat to the country 44:13 The last fifteen years 53:13 Govt responsibility 56:25 Constant state of war