Stratégies locatives et ascension sociale des propriétaires-bailleurs à Horch el-Qatil, banlieue sud de Beyrouth

Abstract

The massive arrival of Syrian refugees to Lebanon since 2011 is generating an informal rental market throughout Lebanon. Rentals for vulnerable migrants are concentrated in the Beqaa region and in the capital’s suburbs. The income of this activity represents an important resource for the landlords in Horch el-Qatil, an informal neighborhood located in the southern suburb of Beirut. They implement various strategies to increase its benefits; for some, it is a survival strategy, for others, it is the way for social and residential ascent. This article aims to clarify the links between landlords’ rental practices and their social mobility. This entry highlights the way in which the social and spatial hierarchies are being redrawn within informal territories. It also shows how socio-spatial mobilities reconfigure these spaces through multiple urban transformations carried out by the residents. The analysis is based on a qualitative empirical investigation conducted between 2017 and 2019 in Horch el-Qatil, focusing on social and residential trajectories of landlords and tenants.

Keywords

• urban mobility
• transformation
• suburb
• rental market
• informal
• stakeholder