The Economic and socio-cultural impact of Cultural Heritage and Urban Development (CHUD) projects on the community well-being in the historic city of Tyre, South Lebanon

Lebanon is famously known for its cultural heritage and historic sites inherited through several civilizations that have resided on its territory. Central to the growing industry of tourism specifically in the historic cores of the MENA region, preserving these assets and highlighting their power in promoting local and regional economies has triggered the attraction of various development initiatives. Among these initiatives was the Cultural Heritage and Urban Development projects (CHUD). CHUD projects were introduced in Lebanon in 2003 to help restore and conserve the cultural heritage of its five main historic cores namely Baalbek, Jbeil, Saida, Tripoli and Tyre. Their main objective was to lay the conditions for promoting economic development and promoted quality of life for host communities. This being achieved through revitalized historic cores with an enhanced attractive power to house more visitors. In order to validate whether these developments have succeeded or failed in their contribution, this research takes into focus the impact of CHUD projects between 2009 and 2017 on Tyre’s local community as a case study. It articulates both socio-cultural and economic impact on the Community Well-Being (CWB) of local residents, an essential domain in the quality of life studies.

Through the use of extensive literature, the research utilizes “Satisfaction” as the main measure of impact on community well-being. Thus, being studied subjectively through the lens of perceptions and experiences of local residents. The analysis of the impact follows the Community Capitals Framework suggested by Emery and Flora (2006). Accordingly, the CWB was subdivided into four capitals Financial, Social, Cultural and Built. For reliability and validity purposes, the research adopts a mixed method approach with the use of both qualitative (interviews-desk research) and quantitative methods (survey). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three main stakeholder groups, namely government and project officials, urban professional’s and local residents. These interviews were exploratory in nature to acquire a more solid insight on both objective project outcomes and subjective perception of the developments from different community stakeholders. Surveys were the main method of this research. It was used to perform statistical frequency analysis to understand how the priority beneficiaries of this development – the local residents – have perceived the impact on their community.

Based on the above analysis, the research has found that the intended community well-being gains and promoting economic prosperity for the vulnerable groups of the historic core might have not been achieved. A clear discontent between the distribution of the benefits was realized between two main groups, (1) residents and businesses owners of the historic core (Al Bawaba), and (2) residents of the peripheral coastal zones of the city (Al Kharab, Mina and western boulevards). Central to the coastal areas, residents might have perceived these developments positively. The increase in tourist rates and H&T services following the infrastructural rehabilitation and increased preservation of archaeological sites has promoted accessibility to more job opportunities. People showed satisfaction in accessing tourism generated jobs and diversifying their income. The activities were perceived as an incentive for residents to promote their neighbourhood conditions. This aspect was responsible as well in promoting space re-appropriation local confidence and pride, and strengthen the regional reputation of the city.

However, major negative implications were realized by the vulnerable groups of the old district. Closer proximity to the interventions was linked to higher levels of negative impact perceptions. Spatial changes and infrastructural activities done in the historic district were seen as responsible to the degraded traditional character of the historic core, thus affecting daily conventional economic and social transactions. Accordingly, strong dissatisfaction with the impact on community capitals was realized within this group. Lack of government transparency and participatory approaches were indicated as factors influencing resident’s negative perception towards the impact, thus degrading support towards future tourism development.

Central to the findings of the research and the negative impacts highlighted, four main recommendations were suggested to embrace the concept of sustainable tourism development and the future way-forward: (1) Preserving traditional modes of life, (2) strategic process driven developments, (3) promoting knowledge of tourism development, and (4) supporting community participation in the process of tourism development.