The role of laws and regulations in shaping gentrification

Abstract

The prominent role of government agencies and other public authorities in stewarding gentrification has been highlighted by a significant number of studies. The intervention of public authorities in this context can take various forms; chief among them, laws and regulations that sustain, support and promote gentrification. Moreover, these laws and regulations play a key role in steering the ways in which gentrification develops in specific urban contexts, and thus constitute a key element for understanding different modalities of ‘gentrification’ around the world. Within this framework, this article addresses processes of gentrification in Beirut through the angle of the joint effects of several laws. Laws that are considered the main normative and regulatory mechanisms for current forms of urban renewal in the city. It examines key legal frameworks, including laws governing construction, rent and built heritage. It also uses the rent gap theory as an analytical tool to assess their impact. The current legal settlement is best viewed from the angle of entanglement between capital and politicians and legislators, as well, the prominent role of capital as a driving force in the modern development of Beirut. The paper seeks to place law—legal provisions, prohibitions and permissions—at the centre of a critical approach to urban change, appropriation and dispossession, as unequal legal rights, claims and constraints empower certain legal subjects (including corporations) over certain others (especially commercial and residential renters). Drawing on a case in the global south, the paper stresses a global approach to gentrification which seeks to transcend north–south divisions.