Popular Housing and Urban Land Tenure in the Middle East : Case Studies From Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon, and Turkey

Irregular or illegal housing constitutes the ordinary condition of popular urban housing in the Middle East. Considering the conditions of daily practices related to land and tenure mobilization and of housing, neighborhood shaping, transactions, and conflict resolution, this book offers a new reading of government action in the cities of Amman, Beirut, Damascus, Istanbul, and Cairo, focussing on the participation of ordinary citizens and their interactions with state apparatus specifically located within the urban space. The book adopts a praxeological approach to law that describes how inhabitants define and exercise their legality in practice and daily routines. The ambition of the volume is to restore the continuum in the consolidation, building after building, of the popular neighborhoods of the cities under study, while demonstrating the closely-knit social relationships and other forms of community bonding. Irregular Or Illegal Housing Constitutes The Ordinary Condition Of Popular Urban Housing In The Middle East. Considering The Conditions Of Daily Practices Related To Land And Tenure Mobilization And Of Housing, Neighborhood Shaping, Transactions, And Conflict Resolution, This Book Offers A New Reading Of Government Action In The Cities Of Amman, Beirut, Damascus, Istanbul, And Cairo, Focusing On The Participation Of Ordinary Citizens And Their Interactions With State Apparatuses Specifically Located Within The Urban Space. The Book Adopts A Praxeological Approach To Law That Describes How Inhabitants Define And Exercise Their Legality In Practice And Daily Routines. The Ambition Of The Volume Is To Restore The Continuum In The Consolidation, Building After Building, Of The Popular Neighborhoods Of The Cities Under Study, While Demonstrating The Closely-knit Social Relationships And Other Forms Of Community Bonding--jacket. Introduction: Forms And Norms: Questioning Illegal Urban Housing In The Middle East / Myriam Ababsa, Baudouin Dupret, And Eric Denis -- 1. Mukhalafat In Damascus: The Form On An Informal Settlement / Etienne Léna -- 2. Selling One's Property In An Informal Settlement: A Praxeological Approach To A Syrian Case Study / Baudouin Dupret And Myriam Ferrier -- 3. Securing Property In Informal Neighborhoods In Damascus Through Tax Payments / Myriam Ferrier -- 4. Inhabitants' Daily Practices To Obtain Legal Status For Their Homes And Security Of Tenure: Egypt / Maqrion Séjourné -- 5. Vertical Versus Horizontal: Constraints Of Modern Living Conditions In Informal Settlements And The Reality Of Construction / Franziska Láue -- 6. The Politics Of Sacred Space In Downtown Beirut (1853-2008) / Ward Vloeberghs -- 7. Shared Social And Juridical Meanings As Observed In Aleppo 'marginal' Neighborhood / Zouhair Ghazzal -- 8. Secure Land Tenure?: Stakes And Contradictions Of Land Titling And Upgrading Politics In The Global Middle East And Egypt / Agnès Deboulet -- 9. The Commodification Of The Ashwaʼiyyat: Urban Land, Housing Market Unification, And De Soto's Interventions In Egypt / Eric Denis -- 10. Public Politics Toward Informal Settlements In Jordan (1965-2010) / Myriam Ababsa -- 11. Mülk Allahindir ('this House Is God's Property'): Legitimizing Land Ownership In The Suburbs Of Istanbul / Jean-françois Pérpise -- 12. Law, Rights, And Justice In Informal Settlements: The Crossed Frames Of Reference Of Town Planning In A Large Urban Development Project In Beirut / Valérie Clerc -- 13. The Coastal Settlements Of Ouzaii And Jnah: Analysis Of An Upgrading Project In Beirut / Falk Jähnigen. Edited By Myriam Ababsa, Baudouin Dupret, Eric Denis. Includes Bibliographical References. This chapter provides an overview of different stages in the coming about of the Muhammad al-Amin mosque, completed in 2005. By looking into the complex history of the mosque we document how a selection of actors became, willing or not, associated with what is now Lebanon's largest congregational mosque, funded almost exclusively by former PM Rafiq Hariri. We argue that a number of physical alterations to the edifice are traces of history that illustrate legal as well as political debates surrounding a construction project that bestowed on the Lebanese capital a major landmark after a surprising trajectory that encompasses a century and a half. This contribution attempts to highlight how, by constant actions and reactions, a highly symbolical place of worship emerged into the skyline of a cosmopolitan metropolis in an ongoing, transformative process of acquiring, claiming and appropriating (sacred) land This chapter is an enhanced version of a text previously published as Ward VLOEBERGHS, "The Genesis of a Mosque. Negotiating Sacred Space in Downtown Beirut", EUI Working Paper RSCAS 2008/17, Florence: European University Institute, 2008 Product of workshop No. 04 at the 9th MRM 2008