But Horsh Beirut, which constitutes 77% of the city’s green lung, will not be opened to the public yet, though mayor Bilal Hamad told The Daily Star that studies are being conducted to determine how to manage the park so that it is not destroyed. Meanwhile, a coalition of 12 non-government organizations will stage guerrilla picnics tomorrow at 13 spots throughout Beirut as part of ongoing efforts to gain access to the park, which has been closed for 20 years.

At present, according to The Daily Star, there are only 0.8 square meters of green space per person, compared to the 40 square meters recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). This compounded by heavy construction works and pollution makes for pretty bleak leaving in what even Mayor Hamad acknowledges is a “cement city.”

The Beirut is Amazing plan will improve green spaces and encourage residents to interact with one another on more attractive and accessible streets.

Sanayeh Garden is one of the first parks that will be cleaned up. Originally established in 1907, it has become a run down area that will soon be revived with a new play area for children, spaces that encourage reading, an exhibition space and running track, and more trees will be planted as well. This decision was taken after Zeina Majdalani with Azadea surveyed the park and existing infrastructure.

St. Nicolas garden in Ashrafieh will also be renovated and work to restore Corniche al-Mazraa is already underway.

Finally the green edge of Beirut’s Hippodrome, presently used by elite horse racing enthusiasts, is slated to become “Beirut’s Central Park.” The Ile de France municipality helped to develop a master plan and studies are expected to be finished within the year.

Despite critics, Mayor Hamad claims that he is committed to giving the Lebanese their capital back. Let’s hope this isn’t a case of too little too late.

:: The Daily Star

Image credit: aerial view of Beirut, Shutterstock

More on Greening the Concrete City:

Beirut Activists to Stage Guerrilla Picnics

Beirut’s Rooftop Revolution (Interview)

Beirut Activists Try to Green the Grey of Their Urban Environment

The post Mayor Launches “Beirut is Amazing” City Greening Plan appeared first on Green Prophet.

After a rough time in Tunis, Tafline pushed past a culture shock hangover to appreciate Tunisia’s second largest city.

When the bus stopped at the station in Sfax, 170 miles from Tunisia’s capital city, I seriously considered getting back on and heading as far south – away from civilization – as I could get. But the adjacent municipal dump was a strong catalyst for quick decision-making, so when a little yellow taxi pulled up just then, I got in. “To the medina!” I said.

We arrived at the ancient walls via a circuitous route (the driver hadn’t understood my English), as the locals cleared up the market debris. The inside of the medina was dark and deserted. I’ve rarely felt more conspicuous during my travels through the MENA region, nor so depressed. By this stage, I was prepared to pay a cool $5,000 for a room, in which I planned to hide for several days.

Sfax in a bad mood

Maybe I can’t fault Sfax. I left Tunis in a bad mood after losing thousands of dollars and dealing with over-enthusiastic Tunisian men, but the trash, the staring, the way the buildings are jammed together in no particular order – it all got under my skin, and not in a good way. It was like a rash, coupled with a migraine, that made me want to close the blinds to my room and never leave.

But I made myself go for a walk last night, and to overcome my superficial judgements. I was determined to find the sacred, the holy, some sign of beauty, some reason not to hate Tunisia’s “second city” – so named because it is the country’s second largest after Tunis.

It is also a port on the Gulf of Gabes and a mecca for phosphate production. From a high vantage point – say a rooftop – it’s easy to see plumes of  emissions spewing from industrial plants on the outskirts of the city. While in the city center, traffic creates a similar effect.

Portal to the west

Even the Carrefour downtown, a French shopping center that is for me a portal to the western world when I’m suffering from culture shock, pulled me further into the doldrums: electrical wires hang freely, the cordoned-off elevator looks like a crime scene, and the baked goods – all covered in ghastly pink meat or shredded tuna – are as dry as the concrete rubble lying outside the store.

Everywhere I looked the apocalypse stared back at me: so-called green spaces are overgrown and strewn with trash; everywhere buildings are being constructed – badly – with nary a thought for proper planning. In fact, like Dubai but not nearly as snazzy, I wonder if  it’s too late for Sfax? The city seems to be growing like a cancer, devouring everything in its sight.

The Minister of Interior recently appointed a new governor to sort it all out. And the municipality aspires to become a hot spot for cultural tourism, but until they move the bus station away from the dump and open a few decent food establishments, the French and Italians won’t be beating down on the Medina’s doors.

The beauty of the present

Even so, I know people who have studied at universities in Sfax, and locals who have connected with me on Facebook show pride of their city, so I felt compelled to dig deeper, to push past the limitations of my own imagination. And this morning, when I left my cave to find caffeine and food (in that order), the aha moment finally occurred. When the medina came back to life.

There’s just something about people selling their wares in an ancient marketplace that can cure even the darkest mood. Cobblers fixed shoes the old-fashioned way, small cafe owners squeezed fresh orange juice without electricity, and huge piles of cauliflower, beans, carrots, and other produce lined the entry way.

Of course, it’s impossible to escape the plastics from China or the scary-looking rat poison, but seeing the market go on as it has for hundreds of years, even as the city grows up around it like a massive parasite, helped me to look past the apocalypse, to recognize the beauty of the present. But I’m not going to lie: it was hard to get there.

More Travel News from Tunisia:

An Independent Tunisia at Night (PHOTOS)

5 Things Wikipedia Won’t Tell You About Tunisia

5 Stories for a Freer, Greener Tunisia

The post A Culture Shock Hangover in Tunisia’s Second City appeared first on Green Prophet.

Cars, pollution, and the uniqueness of Lebanon can’t be forgotten, according to ironic statements by designers, business people, actors and writers in this documentary that intends to open the eyes of the Lebanese youth to the real problems in their society. See sewage flowing into the sea, the garbage mountain at sea, the pillage of archeological ruins, the terrible traffic situation – the way scooters weave through traffic. This eye-opening video is appealing to viewers to be part of the change. Did you know that there are 400 cases of forest fire arson every year in Lebanon and none are persecuted? The loss of green space at a staggering rate. Watch the video below.[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L76AERqV8jc&feature=share[/youtube]

It gathers 45 carefully selected Lebanese figures who start by showing how beautiful Lebanon is but how terribly ugly the society has made it. The documentarians are looking at social, political, economic, ecological and humanitarian problems. If you are looking for a window into Lebanon’s environmental problems watch this video, in Arabic with sub-titles in English.

While some parts of the video are very political (and calling for a revolution), it offers viewers a rare chance to see a variety of moderate Lebanese voices in 45 minutes. Connect with some of them.

The post Is This the Green Lebanon You’ve Dreamt About? (Video) appeared first on Green Prophet.

Dubai’s skyline is going to look increasingly dull compared to what is planned for Abu Dhabi. In addition to Masdar City and the Lunar Cubit energy-generating pyramids that won the Land Art Generator Initiative’s 2010 design competition, a new award-winning building designed by Barcelona-based architects Nabito could forever change how we view high rise structures. Sweep aside the boring energy-draining buildings of old and welcome instead the “Stairscraper” CNN reports that this “eye-catching” spiral skyscraper won the Total Housing Competition organized jointly by the non-profit organization Storefront for Art and Architecture and Architizer, an online platform for architects.

Established in 2007, Nabito architects have already received several acknowledgments for their innovative, and even fun design. This most recent concept was inspired by a spiral staircase they saw hanging from a building in Istanbul.

“We were in Istanbul for the opening night of a building we recently built and while we were speaking we’ve been astonished by a spiral stair hanging from a building in front of us,” co-founder Roberto Ferlito told CNN. “We started joking about the form, playing and imagining the possibilities of transforming it into a building.”

Now he and Alessandra Faticanti are discussing their options with Abu Dhabi engineers, though most of the details are currently confidential.

Faticanti told the paper that they are very concerned to harness as many “green” features as possible. Planned as a mixed use building that incorporates housing, offices, and public space, every level will include a garden.

To irrigate these green spaces, the architects are hoping they can reach an underground water table in the center of the building.

This will be a tricky proposition in Abu Dhabi, where the water table is already deeply stressed. Nabito will have to strike a balance between water scarcity and the urgent need to create carbon-absorbing green spaces.

:: CNN & Inhabitat

More innovative architecture in Abu Dhabi:

Abu Dhabi Building To Achieve All Five Green Building Pearls

Ehrlich Architect Trumps Hadid and Foster With UAE Parliament Building

Energy-Generating Pyramids Win Abu-Dhabi’s LAGI Prize

The post Nabito Architects To Build Amazing Spiral Skyscraper In Abu Dhabi appeared first on Green Prophet.

Despite their numerous environmental faux-pas, like the RAK global warming park, the UAE must be credited with its moments of genius. The latest campaign in Ras al Khaimah to clean up the Corniche is one such example. A popular park among tourists and locals alike, in recent years it has acted like a giant trash dump.

In anticipation of increased traffic, and therefore increased rubbish, the Department of Public Works imported four segways from the United States on which employees patrol the park. They were delivered last month, and have revolutionized how the public perceive their treasured green space.The cousins that drive the segways, Omar and Abdul Rasul al Belooshi, who are both 25, arrive at work at 7pm and often whizz up and down the Qawassim Corniche until the morning call to prayer. They work seven days a week.

Their main task is to encourage park visitors to put their litter in provided bins and to pack out what they pack in. At times they meet with resistance, but usually, they told The National, people are so happy with the results that they are happy to cooperate.

At other times they corral rowdy boys playing rough games, and even mentor them about road safety if challenged to a “race.”

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dtb4AF0p8zE[/youtube]Here are Corniche Police on 3 wheels.

“It’s a fun job, and every day we see many people and talk to them to make this area clean,” Omar told the paper. “The first time they were angry, but we will do anything to stop this.

“People would see me and say ‘oh no’, but when we started to make this area clean they were happy. Before, people didn’t care and nobody was here to talk with them.”

The immediacy and novelty of the segways, compared with patrol cars, gives the “Corniche Police” better access to the public, with which they are able to convey a positive message.

Those unwilling to make the transition face a fine up to $1,300.

Mohammed Hassan, head of Inspection for the RAK Department of Public Works, said that posters urging people to pick up after themselves were ineffective. But the cousins are being billed as “heroes” for their clean up campaign.

They have been so successful that the municipality is considering plans to initiative a similar program at the Kuwaiti Street Market and the old RAK Corniche.

:: The National

More environmental campaigns in the UAE:

Abu Dhabi Turn it Off Campaign

Dubai’s Conservation Initiative – Higher Electricity and Water Bills

What Abu Dhabi Plans For When the Water Runs Out

The post Segway “Police” Achieve Fame For UAE Corniche Cleanup appeared first on Green Prophet.

After an era of uninhibited urbanization, Lebanon’s Green Party is politicizing Beirut’s absence of “green space.” Tel Aviv has Hayarkon, Cairo has Al-Azhar, and Dubai has the Ras al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary –  all slivers of nature amidst the smog and noise that typify life in many cities. These natural enclaves are designed to offer respite from an otherwise “unnatural” environment of hot tar and glass and the endless clang of construction.

The degree to which cities incorporate parks and other public spaces into their urban plans determines residents’ well-being, while failure to prioritize nature can lead to violence. At least, this is the view of Lebanon’s Green Party head, Phillip Skaff, who hopes to add thousands of green square meters to the capital. 

The Angry Green Inch

The Green Party and Lebanon’s residents are lucky to have in their midst Mr. Vladimir Djurovic, the architect who is doing Beirut’s dirty work by reclaiming every green inch possible. Even the slightest  transformation, such as the Samir Kassir Memorial Garden, receives widespread acclaim, pointing perhaps to what is wrong with what used to be a city chock full of cultural wonder.

“If such a small project can get such worldwide recognition, just imagine what we could do on a larger scale,” Mr. Djurovic told The Daily Star.

“The city needs this – its people need this. When you look at every other great city in the world they have all factored in how to make the lives of its citizens more manageable, but we have, and continue to, totally ignore this.”

The Lebanese architect has been recognized by the Cityscape Architecture Review and the American Society of Landscape Architects, according to the paper, and received the prestigious Aga Khan Award for Architecture (AKAA) in 2007. Committed to working around and using materials that complement a site’s existing components, Mr. Djurovic is also said to turn down projects that are too exacting.

The Green Quota

His sustainability ethos comes at a time when the Lebanese population are crying out against its dearth of what The Daily Star’s Simona Sikimic calls “greenery per capita.” She notes that the World Health Organization (WHO) calls for 40 square meters per capita but Beirut only offers its residents 0.8 square meters. Politicians such as Mr. Skaff are picking up the cue.

“This is a terrible situation and requires a radical solution. The municipality must restructure its urban planning and step in to preserve land for its inhabitants,” he told the paper.

“Even if contractors are creating more features in their own designs, if you plant a few trees only the tenants will have access. This is not the point.”

By adding 800,000 square meters to the existing two million, the Green Party’s proposal could amount to an enormous improvement if they can also produce an appropriate management plan. Both The Pine Forest and The Corniche are in terrible disrepair, according to Mr. Djurovic.

“You have to entice and attract people to a space, but Beirut’s few public spaces are dangerous and dirty. But all one needs to do is clean them up,” said Djurovic, unconvinced that this will happen easily.

“Unfortunately, there is no will to do this and all people seem to care about is making money or impressing other people when the most impressive thing one can do is have a beautiful outdoor space left as nature intended.”

:: The Daily Star

More environmental news from Lebanon:

Beirut’s Souk el Tayeb Farmer’s Market Celebrates Healthy Local Food Traditions

Beirut’s “A New Earth” Provides Lebanese Urbanites a Place to Shop for Eco-Products

Lebanon’s Mediterranean Apocalypse: Scuba Diving In Waters Devoid Of Life

image via craigfinlay

The post Beirut Politicizes The City’s Dirty, Dangerous Green Inch appeared first on Green Prophet.