Facts

Category: Public partnership
Location: Beirut, neighbourhoods Mar Mikhael and Gemmayzeh and three public stairs
Time: April 2021 – ongoing
Partners: UN-Habitat Lebanon, Block by Block Foundation and Catalytic Action
Participants: Local youth and girls from the neighbourhood

Her story

Challenges

The public spaces in the neighbourhoods of Mar Mikhael and Gemmayzeh were affected by the Beirut blast in 2020 and the Her City project was initiated at the same time as many other projects and actors were mobilising to respond to the blast. The Her City Beirut project aims at revitalising the stairs to make them more inclusive public spaces for all inhabitants at the same time as having a focus on space and memory.

Solutions

The project started with a participatory site specific assessment together with 25 participants, a diverse group of youth from the neighbourhoods. After having made observations, collected data and having expressed what they liked and disliked in the public space the next activity consisted of redesigning the space in Minecraft. In addition, an open call was advertised to encourage a wider group of inhabitants to participate in revitalising the spaces by sending in their Minecraft designs for them to be considered in the project. Furthermore, the Her City project in Beirut faced challenges in the sense that the Minecraft workshops had to be conducted safely during the coronavirus pandemic and during an electricity crisis in Beirut.

Opportunities

In the redesigning process in Minecraft the participants suggested adding seating areas for resting, lights, accessibility ramps for people with disabilities and older persons, colourful elements and signages on the stairs as well as shades and handrails. Furthermore, floor games for children and areas for cultural activities such as book corners and exhibitions.

Impact 

“Today I discovered I have a passion for design. When I grow up, I want to be an architect to design nice spaces in my neighbourhood,” says a 15-year-old participant in the project. The Beirut project has empowered girls through learning how to create design suggestions for public spaces, which helped them realise their potential to contribute to their community.

Lessons learned

Her City succeeds at delivering a global model for different contexts, with different communities. Being able to show the constraints and adaptations will help to demonstrate how the model can be applied in new and different contexts. The initiative in Beirut shows that the toolbox works for regeneration projects in urban areas. In addition, the project shows that participation can bridge a gap between different people in neighbourhoods and empower the same inhabitants.

Results

Block 3: Site specific assessment

Collecting quantitative and qualitative data by girls and young women on the state of the space that is considered a top priority for improvement.

Block 5: Designing ideas

A rough design in Minecraft of the new space made by the girls and professionals based on the solutions identified throughout the process.

Block 9: Implementation and follow-up

An evaluation of the process, follow up on construction by the girls and a final report on the results of the entire project with a mainstreaming strategy to scale up similar initiatives.

Related SDGs

The project in Beirut relates to the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 5, 10, 11, 16 and 17.

About

Contact
hercity@un.org

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Her City is a joint urban development initiative by UN-Habitat (the United Nations Human Settlements Programme) and Shared City Foundation.