0:00 Intro

0:58 Karantina

19:01 1934 Beirut Port Blast

25:47 Tramway

42:52 Train

48:12 Alternative Modes

57:26 Pressing Matter

We're with Mohamad El Chemaa for Episode 278 of The Beirut Banyan.

Click to watch:

https://youtu.be/Ai_sxzYy9Nk

We discuss Karantina's construction and evolution, the 1934 port blast and the country's once-renowned public transport system including the Beirut tramway and Lebanese national rail network.

Our conversation includes urban planning gone astray, alternative modes of transport proposed and never implemented and the simple dream of an urban planner.

Mohamad El Chemaa is an urban planner and researcher at Beirut Urban Lab.

The articles by Mohamad referenced in this piece are below in order of appearance:

'Beirut’s forgotten medical history: Quarantining before COVID-19' in Beirut Today:

https://beirut-today.com/2021/04/06/beiruts-forgotten-medical-history-quarantining-before-covid/

'The forgotten explosion: Reconstructing the 1934 Beirut port blast' in L'Orient Today:

https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1270337/the-forgotten-explosion-reconstructing-the-1934-beirut-port-blast.html

'Whatever happened to our alternative modes of transport?' in L'Orient Today:

https://today.lorientlejour.com/article/1270337/the-forgotten-explosion-reconstructing-the-1934-beirut-port-blast.html

The metro system article referred to by Najib Mitri is accessible below:

'A 1968 USSR Study for Beirut Metro' in Blog Baladi:

https://blogbaladi.com/a-1968-ussr-study-for-beirut-metro/

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Music by Marc Codsi. Animation & illustration by Sana Chaaban.