Atlas of Lebanon : new challenges

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After fifteen years of reconstruction in a relatively peaceful environment spanning the years 1990 to 2004, Lebanon has experienced successive violent political events resulting from complex entang...

After fifteen years of reconstruction in a relatively peaceful environment spanning the years 1990 to 2004, Lebanon has experienced successive violent political events resulting from complex entangled internal and external struggles. The Syrian crisis and its political, economic and demographic consequences on Lebanon have increased these tensions. This atlas sheds light on these new challenges and completes the analyzes already published in the Atlas of Lebanon. Territories and Society (Atlas of Lebanon, Territories and Society) released in 2007 by the same research team. Some of its components are included in this edition. Beyond the international regional crisis and the population movements, it takes into account Lebanon's socio-economic dimensions, the environmental issues related to uncontrolled urbanization and natural risks, and local territorial management. This atlas is the result of a collaborative endeavor between French and Lebanese researchers. It uses a geographical approach that puts in the foreground a spatial analysis of social and natural phenomena. Public sources are scarce in Lebanon, especially at the local scale. They are sometimes less reliable and difficult to access. It is particularly the case for the Lebanese census data, which is widely known to the refugees, which is known to the population of refugees. International data help compare Lebanon to its neighbors. Thematic data produced by some ministries. Analyzes processed on aerial and satellite images. Local thematic fieldwork surveys have provided additional data. The book consists of seven chapters. The first one deals with the territorial state-building in the light of regional geopolitics, and emphasizes internal violence and the reemergence of militias and armed groups that fight each other and the state army. Lebanon is once again perceived to be divided between multiple allegiances. The second chapter is devoted to the analysis of population dynamics, despite the lack of reliable data sources. It includes analyzes of internal population flows, the Lebanese diaspora, and the assessment of Syrian refugees' influx. The third chapter shows the fragility of the Lebanese economic model. Its dependency on foreign investments and the remittances of the diaspora, as well as the deadlocks of industry and agriculture, which aggravate social imbalances. The fourth chapter is an assessment of urbanization in the country, which has increased by 80% in the area of {u200B}{u200B}natural resources and agriculture. The shore is highly coveted and widely artificialized and damaged. Multiple signs of environmental degradation are examined in chapter five. They seem to announce the global climate change and its local effects. In addition to that, there is a massive relationship between mass urbanization and many risks. Chapter six tackles the dysfunctional public services that exploit natural resources: water and energy supply, both marked by massive shortages, and the management of solid waste hit by a serious crisis. The second chapter of the chapter deals with the mutations of local territorial management, which is marked out by the retreat of the state, with its marginalization, and the rise of other actors, including municipalities, local authorities and civil society organizations.

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