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This book presents the history of town planning in Beirut between the period of independence and the start of the Lebanese civil war. It emphasizes the ambitious reformist presidency of Fouad Chéhab, the founding moment of the construction of the State in Lebanon, often invoked, admired, regretted, sometimes also criticized for his failures and his disappointed ambitions, especially in the social field. and town planning. This period deserves to be analysed for itself rather than as a golden age, a parenthesis or the cause of the misfortunes that followed. Town planning was one of the utopias of the time. This book endeavours to restore the originality of this period in a broader framework, that of town planning in the Arab countries acceding to independence. He insists on the political dimension of urban projects and on their contribution to the construction of a modern State, guarantor of development. These plans faced opposition from multiple social forces, ranging from poorly housed residents to land speculators. This resulted in many renouncements: Beirut largely remained, at that time, a city in plans. A privileged place is given to urban planning professionals, architects and engineers, who recognized themselves and invested themselves in this project but also influenced it by their modernist and elitist designs. Faced with French experts, such as Father Lebret or Michel Écochard, Lebanese professionals prevailed in administrations and councils and took charge of the design of the plans and their implementation. They built an imaginary planner that will last beyond the time of the war to haunt the projects and counter-projects of reconstruction.

City planning --- Urban renewal --- Architecture --- Urbanization --- Urbanisme --- Rénovation urbaine --- Urbanisation --- History --- Histoire --- Sociology & Social History --- Social Sciences --- Communities - Urban Groups --- géographie --- histoire de l’urbanisme --- urbanisme --- développement --- Fouad Chéhab --- Michel Écochard --- géographie urbaine --- architectes --- urbanistes --- ingénieurs --- Louis-Joseph Lebret