HOW IS BYBLOS BECOMING MORE RESILIENT?

A fragmented city is not a resilient city

Historically, Byblos was a small coastal town, with 2,000•inhabitants. It was a human scale city, low rise, and compact, with a balance of open space. The city itself consisted of a small fishing harbor that was the regional and commercial hub for the caza. The Old City remains at this human scale, but the wider city has expanded to accommodate the growing population. The city expanded up the hills in an uncontrolled and unregulated pattern of development with less community focus, which has led to a reduction in social cohesion and interaction, and a loss of accessibility around the city. Urban sprawl has affected both the physical and social structure of the city. Today, the city is fragmented; a major road cuts the city in half, and part of the infrastructure cannot cope with the network demand of travel. This is due to the reliance on the car as mode of transport. Improving accessibility and linkages around the city is a particular challenge.

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Loss of customs, traditional businesses and know-hows threaten our city’s heritage

Byblos’ rich archaeology is nothing less than an open air museum, with sites and artefacts dating back to the early days of the city. Fishing, crafts and other traditional businesses are being replaced by more profitable activities. Cultural customs and traditions are being diluted or forgotten due to lack of education, youth migration, and changing demographics. If this erosion of cultural heritage is not curbed, Byblos will lose the reason why so many visitors are attracted to the city in the first place. For Byblos, preservation of historical assets and culture, and revival of customs and crafts is an important aspect of resilience.

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Our environment is changing

Byblos is a city rich in natural heritage, which includes a diverse coastline, river valleys, beaches, orchards, agricultural land, and the surrounding hillside woodlands. These features contribute to the beauty of the city and its setting, and offer valuable services. However, they are under threat from urban growth and human intervention. Rapid population growth, rural-urban migration, unplanned urbanization and unregulated construction is causing encroachment of developments into river valleys and the surrounding landscape along with pollution of rivers and aquifers with waste and sewage and occasional droughts due to rising water demands. This is coupled with the absence of appropriate infrastructure such as a waste water treatment plant. Recently the situation has been aggravated by the waste management crisis in the country and in Hbaline landfill site, and the absence of a national integrated and sustainable waste management strategy. Regular power cuts have increased the demand for private generators, which are polluting our air. Protecting the environment is critical for our resilience.

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Our economy requires diversification

The ancient city had a variety of economic activities such as fishing and agriculture. Today, the economy relies mainly on tourism, retail and health. Regional unrest, migration of young people (brain drain), shifting economies, growing unemployment and the decline of traditional trades are having an impact on the economic prosperity and resilience of the city, and its attractiveness to investors. Steering economic growth and economic diversity are of particular importance for our city’s resilience.

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For Byblos, preservation of peace is fundamental to our future ability to survive and thrive

Peace has long been a characteristic of Byblos, and it remains a strong value of the city’s citizens. However, with rapid population growth, internal migration and an influx of refugees from Syria, maintenance of social cohesion is a growing challenge. 1.5 million Syrian refugees have recently sheltered in Lebanon; a country whose own population is just 4 million. The region is threatened by armed conflicts resulting from injustice, oppression, lack of freedom, radical ideologies, ruthless dictatorship and religious extremism. Regional instability is accelerating an existing economic crisis and escalating problems of unemployment.

According to UN statistics in December 2014, the latest number of registered Syrian refugees in Lebanon is 1,158,995. In the caza of Byblos, the statistics compiled on the 30th of April 2015 show a total of 1,660 registered refugees in a population of 27,250. The percentage increase since the initial registrations in September 2013 compared to an estimate of a 1% yearly growth rate, is thought to challenge Byblos’ population growth rate.

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Oil spillage, 2006

While the past conflicts in Lebanon have not directly affected the peace of Byblos, our environment and economy have been deeply damaged. In 2006, the Old port, rocks and beaches of Byblos were polluted by a 2•centimeter thick oil slick following the Israeli bombing of storage tanks at the Jiyyeh power station south of Beirut. Short term damages included severe damage to the marine life, disruption to the fishing and tourism industry, and severe stains to the archaeological remains. The longterm damage to the city’s natural environment could not be quantified.

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