Water and electricity networks between stress and reform: from post-civil war reconstruction to the new Lebanese wars
Résumé
After the 2006 summer war and the 2007 assault of Nahr el Bared, the issue of energy and water supply is once again one of the main issues the Lebanese have to cope with. It is a consequence of the damages inflected by both conflicts (mostly during the 2006 war) as well as a result of the State paralysis, which is hindering the necessary reforms. But the recovery of the energy and water delivery, deeply affected by the civil war (1975-1990), had never been fully achieved during the reconstruction process. Strangely, while the crisis of these infrastructures has been recognized as one of the dimensions of the civil war urban crisis (Awada 1988, Davie 1991), urban scholarship has mostly overlooked the public service supply issue during the 1990's.
In this paper we would like to address it and, specifically, to understand how the water and electricity supply is linked to the process of territorial fragmentation in post civil war Lebanon. Since the end 1990's, several attempts at reforming both sectors have been launched. They seem to be part of a wider global trend of neoliberal reforms affecting urban utilities. Since the social and territorial impacts of such reforms are usually strong, we will also try to assess their effects in the Lebanese cities. Lastly, we have to examine how the recent cycle of violence and of political unrest has heightened the problems, which is one of the currently most disputed political issues.
In this paper we would like to address it and, specifically, to understand how the water and electricity supply is linked to the process of territorial fragmentation in post civil war Lebanon. Since the end 1990's, several attempts at reforming both sectors have been launched. They seem to be part of a wider global trend of neoliberal reforms affecting urban utilities. Since the social and territorial impacts of such reforms are usually strong, we will also try to assess their effects in the Lebanese cities. Lastly, we have to examine how the recent cycle of violence and of political unrest has heightened the problems, which is one of the currently most disputed political issues.
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