Invigorating a Park in the City

The once ‘twin of Beirut’ Horsh Al-Sanawbar is currently an over-designed and lavishly-landscaped public park of which most of it is closed to the public. In this regard, public space policies and park strategies of the Municipality of Beirut (MoB) – the local elected public authority – control and police the space of the park and park users’ practices in favor of landscape ‘museumification’. However, a practice of good governance implies that the MoB should open and manage the park as a public service delivered for the people of Beirut who are the electorate of the MoB.
Through historical comparative analysis with previous management practices of Horsh Al-Sanawbar and through direct observations of contemporary municipal strategies and users’ practices in the park, this paper is both a critique of the MoB’s current governance of public space and the possibility for an affordable alternative good governance of Beirut’s Horsh Al-Sanawbar. (An excerpt from the winning paper’s abstract)

Invigorating a Park in the City
Alternatives for the Good Governance of Horsh Al-Sanawbar in Beirut
(Visit Basil Fuleihan Foundation)

Fadi Shayya was awarded 1^st Place in the 2008 edition of the Basil Fuleihan Innovative Good Governance Competition (BFIGG) for “Invigorating a Park in the City.” The awards, granted in the name of former MP/Minister/Economist/Academic Dr. Basil Fuleihan, were officially announced and handed during a commemorative press conference at the Press Syndicate in Beirut on 17 April 2008.

From the Basil Fuleihan Foundation Website

“The main objective and scope of the research paper competition is to solicit innovative good governance ideas that have potential for implementation in Lebanon or have already been implemented (in or outside Lebanon) but can be replicated in other settings. The papers should demonstrate a solid understanding of the concept of good governance, present an innovative idea for good governance, offer an analysis of why it is useful and how it contributes to improvements in the delivery of government services to citizens, and provide a description of where and how the concept can be applied in Lebanon.”

A Selection Committee reviewed all submissions and chose the five finalist papers. The committe consisted of:

• Prof. Rashid Khalidi (Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies and Director of the Middle East Institute at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University)
• Prof. Ronald Findlay (Ragnar Nurkse Professor of Economics at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University)
• Prof. Beat Bürgenmeier (Professor of Political Economy and Director of the Center for Human Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Geneva)

The Final Jury considered that the 5 finalists where papers of “exceptionally high quality,” resulting in increasing the money awards and including honorable mentions. The jury consisted of:

• H.E. Ghassan Tueni (Member of Parliament and Publisher of An-Nahar Newspaper)
• Ms. Frances Guy (H.M. Ambassador to the Republic of Lebanon, British Embassy)
• H.E. Marwan Hamade (Member of Parliament and Minister of Telecommunications)
• H.E. Michel Eddeh (Former Minister of Culture and Higher Education)
• Mr. Mohammad Mattar (Managing Partner, Mattar-Mouawad-Majdalany-el Khazen Law Firm)
• Mr. Maroun Asmar (Board Member of Banque Méditerranée and Chairman of MIB Holding)
• Mr. Nader Al Hariri (Managing Director, Omnia Holdings)
• Mr. Ali Jaber (Managing Editor, Dubai Media Incorporated)