Local and International Policies for Rebuilding Beirut Urban Port

On August 4, 2020, a massive amount of ammonium nitrate held at Beirut's port exploded, killing at least 200 people, injuring over 7,000 others, causing US$3.8-4.6 billion in material damage, and displacing over 300,000 people. Lebanon was already in the midst of a fast-worsening financial crisis, which was made worse by the onset of COVID-19. The explosion brought to light the city of Beirut's instability and diverse development strategy. This research paper examines the social, economic, and urban impacts of the explosion on Beirut, with an emphasis on the Beirut Port, which was destroyed, as well as the post-event management and restoration efforts, as well as the essential role of private organizations. In particularly it examines and compares successful examples or frameworks in other cities and similar context cities in history with urban/social disruptions, evaluates current planning initiatives, analyzes the case study of the recent World Bank report on reforming Beirut port, and conducts interviews to provide the divided city of Beirut with a redevelopment and reconstruction geopolitical and local policies for the port of Beirut.