Contextualizing UNESCO’s Historic Urban Landscape Approach: A Framework for Identifying Modern Heritage in Post-Blast Beirut

Jala Makhzoumi (), Howayda Al-Harithy and Mariam Bazzi
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Jala Makhzoumi: International Federation of Landscape Architects, Middle East Region, London W3 9AW, UK
Howayda Al-Harithy: School of Architecture and Design, Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut (AUB), Beirut 1107, Lebanon
Mariam Bazzi: Beirut Urban Lab, Maroun Semaan Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, American University of Beirut (AUB), Beirut 1107, Lebanon

Land, 2024, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-25

Abstract: This paper reflects on the application and adaptation of the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL) approach in Beirut, Lebanon, in post-disaster conditions. Adopted by UNESCO in 2005, the HUL approach marked a shift in addressing urban heritage, echoing an evolution in theory. However, contextualizing the HUL approach to address distinct local, geographic, and cultural conditions and reframing its scale and scope of operation remains a challenge. This paper uses a case-study-based methodology as it reflects on the application of the Historic Urban Landscape approach in the post-blast context of Beirut. Commissioned by UNESCO, an interdisciplinary team at the Beirut Urban Lab used the HUL approach to identify modern heritage in Beirut after adapting it to the post-colonial and Mediterranean context of the city. This study contextualized modern heritage definitions, proposed a periodization of modern built and landscape heritage, and designated modern heritage based on its formal/spatial, urban/landscape, socio-cultural, and environmental values. This paper argues that the study contributes to the advancement of the Historic Urban Landscape approach by operationalizing it into an applicable heritage framework, employing a transdisciplinary model that involves local people at the institutional and community levels, and serving as a basis for generating conservation strategies responsive to place and culture. This study also pioneered a comprehensive, integrative, and transdisciplinary reading of modern heritage in Beirut, breaking the professional silos between disciplines and bringing landscape into the identification of heritage in Lebanon.

Keywords: historic urban landscape; cultural heritage; natural heritage; landscape heritage; heritage identification; modern heritage; urban landscape transformation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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