Constructing Resilience: Political Economy of Real Estate in Beirut

The Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs cordially invites you to a lecture and open discussion
‘Constructing Resilience: Political Economy of Real Estate in Beirut’ By Julia Tierney, a PhD Candidate at the University of California, Berkeley and Affiliated Scholar, Issam Fares Institute

There is a puzzle at the heart of the political economy of real estate investment in Beirut. Despite the slowdown in demand for affluent apartments, their prices have not decreased, at least not markedly. The explanation put forward by developers is the law of scarcity. Given Beirut’s natural allure and the fact that space is scarce, naturally property prices are resilient even when the real estate market is less resilient to these risks. Yet paradoxically Beirut is a city of empty apartments, as anyone knows when looking up at their darkened windows, and therefore why does the law of supply not force property prices downwards? In my research I historically trace how economic laws understood as natural are constructed by public policy. This is materialized in the built environment of Beirut with the continuing construction of luxury apartments that everywhere are empty. In sum, real estate’s resiliency – its place as a pillar of the economy – is constructed by public policy, and today as the price of property is within reach of only the most privileged the question becomes at what cost must resiliency be retained?

Location: Issam Fares Institute – Conference room.