HOUSING, DISPLACEMENT AND THE ELDERLY
INTERSECTIONAL SPATIAL NARRATIVES FROM TARIK AL JADIDAH, BEIRUT
These graphic stories are part of an ongoing research collaboration between Public Works Studio and the RELIEF Centre. The project focuses on the effects of real estate policy, and the financialization of housing markets, resulting in the eviction and displacement of the most vulnerable social groups in Beirut, and turning the capital city into an exclusive, unjust, and vulnerable place.
Um Yumna’s Eviction
At age 14, Um Yumna made her way from West Bekaa to settle in Beirut. After over 60 years of living in the city through earthquakes and war, she, along with her family, get evicted and find themselves going back to Barja, her husband’s town; a place she and her family knew only by name. In this story, Um Yumna recounts her stories and memories of building a life in Tarik Al Jadidah, and describes the challenges of her eviction and her new life in Barja as an elderly woman.
Um Hassan’s New House
Um Hassan moved to Tarik Al Jadidah in 1982, when she was an 18-year-old mother of two. She is now in her 50s and lives in the same neighborhood, but in a new house after being evicted three years ago. Between her old house and her new one is a small open space, sheltered from the sun and rain by a cloth. This open space represents the past, present, and future of Um Hassan's housing. During a series of chats in this space, we come to know Um Hassan's story and the neighborhood's residents' struggles to stay here in the face of real estate pressures.
Project by: Public Works Studio in collaboration with Prof. Camillo Boano, part of the RELIEF Centre funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (UK) Grand Challenges
Research team: Monica Basbous and Jana Haidar
Original writing: Jana Haidar
Mapping and visualization: Monica Basbous, Jana Haidar, Imad Kaafarani
Illustrations: Imad Kaafarani
Originally published in Arabic on the Housing Monitor.
