Reevaluating 'Resilience': The case of Beirut port explosion

This paper examines the intricate dynamics of urban resilience and recovery in the context of ongoing and overlapping crises, with Beirut serving as a focal case. Following the 2020 port explosion, Beirut’s recovery has been shaped by political instability, economic challenges, and fragmented governance, highlighting the limitations of traditional approaches to resilience and normalcy. The methodology adopts a multi-scalar approach, exploring the roles of local communities, NGOs, and international stakeholders in the city’s recovery process. It emphasizes the disparities in reconstruction efforts and the critical role of neighborhood-level initiatives in addressing localized needs. This analysis calls for a reconsideration of the concepts of ‘resilience’ and ‘normality’ in a context of ongoing crises, where stability is supplanted by constant adaptation across various spatial and temporal scales. The study underscores the necessity of redefining these frameworks to better understand how cities navigate persistent instability and maintain functionality under continuous disruption.