Public spaces and gardens, in their modern urban sense as we know them today, did not exist in the Lebanese countryside in the past, as the agricultural seasons were sufficient to bring together the people of the same village in the threshing floors and fields for the harvest, and in the squares for celebrations, holidays and national occasions, and the exchange of produce.
I recall stories from my grandmother, who lived to be nearly a hundred, about the village that would empty out in August, as the inhabitants would spend the month in the fig orchards: “We were fig pickers,” she said, “picking the figs and spreading them out to dry for days to preserve them for the winter. At night, gatherings would be held, filled with singing and dancing, and many weddings took place during this month. In those days, ‘life was good, Grandma.’”
The fields and threshing floors of that time are equivalent to what can be considered today as public spaces that most villages in southern Lebanon lack, which suffered destruction and devastation that they did not witness in any of the previous wars, which lasted for nearly fifty years.
The suggestion of creating public spaces in southern villages today might seem surprising. The mere mention of such a facility conjures up images of these villages as boundless open spaces of greenery, gardens, fields, and squares. However, we are now confronted with the reality of the wars and repeated invasions that have ravaged the villages, towns, and cities of southern Lebanon. These conflicts have led to the loss of many public spaces that people once frequented for recreation, leisure, and holidays. These spaces, which were not originally designated as parks, are few in number and lack organized activities and landscaping. The same applies to river terraces, most of which are exploited by profiteers, making access prohibitively expensive for those with limited incomes. Even marine reserves have suffered significant encroachments, the most recent being on the Mansouri Reserve, the most important nesting site for sea turtles in Lebanon.
As for the fires that broke out in a number of forests and fields, whether due to Israeli bombing or as a result of disregarding the green cover, they led to a reduction in green spaces, according to the latest statistics of the National Council for Scientific Research, which showed that the Israeli attacks led to the burning of more than 7.9 percent of forest and agricultural lands.
All of this occurred between wars and ceasefires, while the inhabitants of the southern villages and towns continued to build their homes and institutions, which expanded and grew haphazardly and without planning or oversight. This was accompanied by a lack of urban planning, ineffective municipalities, insufficient funding, political patronage, and divisions. The urban growth witnessed in the southern villages revealed chaotic planning and an imbalance in the functions of urban units, with a complete disregard for public spaces.
With the reconstruction plan to recover from the effects of the war, which was developed by the Lebanese state in 2024 and whose cost exceeds seven billion dollars, priority is given to compensation for residential and economic facilities that enable residents to rebuild their homes and return to their villages. The aforementioned plan does not take into account any interest in or planning for public spaces or parks, as they are an internal municipal matter.
We believe that recovery from war is not just about rebuilding with stones, but rather about the recovery of people from the effects of war, which is the construction that will occupy us for a long time. Hence, the need to create public spaces and establish gardens within the available land in every village seems urgent, especially since there are specific laws for this, including, for example, the Gardens Establishment Law issued by the Ministry of Agriculture No. 208/1, which allows the municipality to designate a property of five dunams for the establishment of a garden, provided that it belongs to public property, and provided that an official document is obtained from the owner of the property (municipal property – republican property).
Raising the issue of creating public spaces in southern villages, cities, and towns within the reconstruction plan is not merely a cosmetic formality, although this aspect is essential and fundamental. These spaces are not neutral, but rather oases for recovery from the effects of war, and places for meeting, communication, dialogue, and the exchange of opinions and viewpoints among different social classes, which transforms them into socio-spatial spaces for the interaction of different groups, and establishes a shared collective memory.
If the definition of gardens and spaces classifies them as a public domain rather than a private one, then the participatory work based on study and planning according to the needs of the local community, and the sustainability of activities within them in all their cultural, artistic, social and sports diversity, strengthens the community’s belonging to the place, and integrates the place with the community’s imprint, according to the French sociologist Maurice Halbwachs.