Other 'Gentrifications': Remaking Ras Beirut

Speakers: Fran Tonkiss, LSE; Dr Mona Khechen, AUB Chair: Romola Sanyal, LSE This event represents the culmination of a collaborative research project between LSE and the American University of Beirut. The event addresses current processes of urban development in Beirut, focusing on the Ras Beirut neighbourhood. In contrast to the well-established literature on gentrification in North American and European cities, and increasing focus on development logics in cities in emerging and transitional economies, there is comparatively little academic research on urban restructuring in cities in the Middle East. Speakers explore the remaking of Ras Beirut from the standpoint of comparative urbanism – highlighting the specificities of this case, placing it in the context of regional and international capital flows and real estate development, and analysing the relevance of established frameworks in critical urban studies and political economy to such a setting. Recorded on 1 October 2015.