Description

The transformations of planning in post-civil war Lebanon illustrate the case of an uncertain professionalisation process, between the opposed forces of academic affirmation, of an emergent professional field and of the reality of a job market where planning hardly finds its space.
Historically, planning has been an essential tool for national building, without ever relying on academically trained professionals. The establishment of new curricula in the nineties owes more to
academic logic than to the market demand. The current market for planning is a secondary segment of the broader market of studies and consultation in architecture and engineering and it reproduces many of its features. It suffers from the effects of the restriction of the State's role and of shrinkage of its commands and reflects the greater role of private actors.