local strategic planning - at the level of municipalities & unions of municipalities in lebanon

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Copyright 2011By the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat),All rights reserved. No part of this publication maybe reproduced, stored in retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission of UN-Habitat.

FOREWORD

With the aim of promoting municipal work and allowing local authorities accomplish their duties and functions in a proper manner, the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities strives to provide them with the required assistance, including moral and financial support.

Driven by our belief that enhancing the performance of Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities shall lead to the promotion of local development the backbone of the balanced development that the government seeks to achieve, we are determined to activate the work of Municipalities even further.

It is worth noting that an efficient Municipality will definitely contribute to promoting administrative decentralization, an objective that we all yearn to attain. In fact, an empowered Municipality can offer high-quality and effective services to citizens.

Therefore, we have continuously endeavored, in collaboration with international donors to ensure financial as well as technical support to activate municipal work and improve the quality of municipal services.

The cooperation between the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities and the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) represents one of the operational facets of these endeavors, which resulted in the production of a Training Guidebook on Local Strategic Planning. This topic is considered one of the principal pillars of the local development process and a pivotal milestone in the development of municipal work.

We call upon all Municipalities and Union of Municipalities unions of municipalities to give priority to local planning within their day-to-day business, as it represents an integral part of their work. Local Planning relies on the capacities of Municipalities, Unions of Municipalities, and local communities, be it to make full use of existing human and material resources or to build on the characteristics and advantages of the region and seizing the existing opportunities.

We put forward in this training guidebook a flexible, clear, practical and scientific methodology regarding local strategic planning that is applicable at the municipal level, in general, and the level of Union of Municipalities, in particular.

Beirut, May 20, 2012

Minister of Interior and MunicipalitiesBrigadier Marwan Charbel

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UN-Habitat wishes to thank all those who took part in the elaboration and completion processes of this Training Guidebook on Local Strategic Planning for Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities in Lebanon. This Guidebook comes in the context of the project Enhanced Municipal Governance for Effective Decentralization in Lebanon, implemented jointly with the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities/Directorate General of Local Administrations and Councils, and funded by the Italian Government.

Firstly, special thanks are due to the Director General of Local Administrations and Councils Mr. Khalil Hajal and his staff for their efficient contribution and exceptional support in facilitating the work of the project team during the elaboration of this guidebook.

We express our gratitude for the Directorate General of Urban Planning as well as for the Council for Development and Reconstruction and the Order of Engineers and Architects of Beirut for their contribution during the various developing stages of this Guidebook the as well as for their participation in the consultative workshops that focused on the content and the implementation mechanisms of the methodology proposed by the Guidebook.

Our appreciation goes to the presidents of Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities and Municipal Guides, as well as representatives of public and private civil institutions who took part in the two-day working sessions to discuss the content of the Training Guidebook. We also thank them for their effective contribution to the training workshops on the Concepts of Local Strategic Planning that have been implemented in 12 Unions of Municipalities. The feedback collected by the participants in the training workshops contributed extensively to the completion of this Guidebook.

Special thanks must also go to all the facilitators who undertook training in the frame of this project, and contributed to training Municipalities, and Unions of Municipalities as well as to raising awareness on local strategic planning within various regions. Through the adoption of innovative training techniques and methods, those trainers helped significantly in transmitting the notion of Local Planning in an interactive and constructive manner.

Furthermore, we highly appreciate the efforts of all national experts who participated in consultative workshops to discuss the content of the Training Guidebook and provided their observations, suggestions and recommendations, which enriched the guidebook and made it even more valuable.

Finally, we would like to acknowledge the significant efforts and intensive follow up carried out by the team of experts who were appointed by UN-Habitat to elaborate and develop the content of the Training Guidebook. This team consisted of Dr. Lon Telvizian and Dr. Mousbah Rajab, professors at the Lebanese University, Institute of Fine Arts Department of Urban Planning, who were commissioned by UN-Habitat to develop and elaborate this Guidebook.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

04 LOCAL STRATEGIC PLANNINGC o n c e p t s a n d I m p l e m e n t a t i o n P r o c e d u r e s

INTRODUCTION

PREAMBLE

1- The Urban Situation and the Importance of Local Strategic Planning

The Evolving Role of Cities

The Urban Situation in Lebanon

Role of Local Authorities

Urban Planning: Overview

2- National Planning Frameworks

Public Institutions Concerned with Planning

3- The Current Situation of Municipalities and the Strategic Planning Challenges

At the level of Municipalities

At the Level of Unions of Municipalities

4. Local Strategic Planning at the Level of Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities

Definition of Local Strategic Planning

Elements of Local Strategic Planning

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111213

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

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Before going into the detailed content of strategic planning as presented in this guidebook, it is necessary to address certain critical issues that directly affect the planning process in Lebanon. These issues encompass three main levels:

Policy level

Institutional level; and

Administrative level

At the level of public policies, Lebanon is still lacking national frameworks that guide the planning process. Although the national report on the National Physical Master Plan for the Lebanese Territory (which is considered one of the main national planning tools) was issued and got the approval of the Council of Ministers in May 2009, it is however limited to determining general orientations associated with land use, without specifying the procedural mechanisms that facilitate its use at the level of line ministries and public administrations.

At the institutional level, the public entity entrusted with planning responsibility is inexistent. The Ministry of Planning was eliminated in the 1960s, the outbreak of the civil war (1970-1990) has exacerbated the overall situation. During the war period, the role of State institutions was limited to providing basic and essential services that respond to emergency needs. Until today, planning matters overlap between many ministries and public agencies, notably: the Council for Development and Reconstruction, the Directorate General of Urban Planning, the Higher Council for Urban Planning and, in certain cases, municipalities

Concerning the national administrative divisions, they are done according to political

and sectarian considerations, which have a negative adverse on the strategic planning process. In fact, the present geographical delimitation of Cazas (Districts) in Lebanon embraces in many cases regions that are heterogeneous geographically, socially and economically. This in turn limits the possibility of adopting these Cazas as an integrated and homogeneous entity in the planning and development process.

This problem is further aggravated when looking at the adopted divisions to form Union of Municipalities. The establishment of Unions of Municipalities goes back to the year 1978, and the number started significantly increasing since year 2000. The formation of Unions of Municipalities (through the number of affiliated Municipalities or through their geographical delimitations) was mostly affected by political and sectarian considerations rather than by development considerations.

And if we assume that Unions of Municipalities represent presently the most convenient official regional structures to lead the process of strategic planning, it should be noted that this process should not be limited to the geographical boundary of a Union only, but it could go beyond those borders to include the relevant regional space, either within the same Caza, or even to extend to neighboring Cazas.

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INTRODUCTION

LOCAL STRATEGIC PLANNINGC o n c e p t s a n d I m p l e m e n t a t i o n P r o c e d u r e s

It should be noted that the success of the planning process in Lebanon should be accompanied by legal reforms that would respond to occurring transformations and urbanization challenges, particularly in terms of promoting decentralization and empowering of local authorities. This shall require:

Reviewing the Municipal Code,

Reviewing the fund distribution mechanisms handled by the Independent Municipal Fund; and

Amending the electoral law, which should be aligned with the current demographic reality.

Finally, while acknowledging that these considerations reflect the national reality, the need arises to bring about the necessary changes within this framework and according to available resources. In this context, this Guidebook comes to emphasize the importance of local strategic planning and the possibility to apply it within the available national frameworks. It also comes to re-assert the need to elaborate strategic plans within Unions of Municipalities in order to form a reference or an action plan at the regional level, taking into account the needs of the local population.

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This training guidebook falls within the framework of the project entitled Enhanced Municipal Governance for Effective Decentralization in Lebanon, implemented by UN-Habitat in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities/ Directorate General of Administrations and Local Councils and funded by the Italian Government. The project aims at supporting the Directorate General through the empowerment of the Department of Guidance and Investigation and enhancing communication with the Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities. The project also intends to develop a national municipal capacity development plan which encompasses training curricula on financial, administrative and technical aspects as well as local planning. Furthermore, the project seeks to promote exchange of expertise and networking between Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities at the national level, through identifying and promoting municipal best practices.

PREAMBLE

This Guidebook targets all segments of the society, including decision makers, experts and community members in general. It seeks to develop a new and practical notion on Local Strategic Planning at the level of Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities in Lebanon. Having adopted this Guidebook, the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities is expected to disseminate it and to encourage Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities to apply it, either through the Directorate General of Local Administrations and Councils, or through international and community organizations that deal with municipal work under the guidance and supervision of the Directorate General.

This guidebook presents one of the proposed approaches to strategic planning focusing on the two dimensions, i.e. spatial and local, when applying the concept of urban planning, which takes into consideration the specificity of Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities in Lebanon. This is the reason why the Training Guidebook was entitled: Local Strategic Planning for Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities in Lebanon.

The Training Guidebook consists of two main parts. The first part sheds light on the concepts

of local strategic planning and the factors that affect its successful application. The second part focuses on the practical steps and procedures that are required to realize effectively local strategic plans at the level of Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities in Lebanon.

The first part, which targets the various constituents of the local communities, aims at promoting and disseminating the notion of strategic planning. It is addressed to the various segments of the society, members of municipal councils, civil servants, NGOs and private sector representatives; etc. and it highlights the role of diverse stakeholders and stresses on the importance of their participation during the various planning stages.

Addressed primarily to experts and local activists available at the level of Union of Municipalities or Municipalities of major cities, the second part aims at developing the local capacities through providing a thorough and sequential explanation on the proposed procedures, steps and operational mechanisms to initiate a strategic planning process.


The first part of the Guidebook provides an overview on the evolving role of cities and the urban situation in Lebanon. It also defines the role of local authorities and the concept of strategic planning as a tool to respond to demographic changes and urban expansion, highlighting the various planning patterns and their development globally. Furthermore, it presents the national planning frameworks, as well as the municipal situation in Lebanon and its impact on the process of strategic planning. In the last section, the first part introduces the notion of Local Strategic Planning, its main elements and its process.

The second part details the steps that should be carried out by Municipalities and Union of Municipalities, throughout the various stages of the Local Strategic Planning process. It also focuses on the needed human resources (internal/local and external) to conduct the planning exercise, including their number, competencies and know how as well as tasks distribution. It also stresses on the importance of the training provided by the Ministry of Interior and Municipalities to develop the local capacities of available human resources. This second part highlights the connection between the proposed steps and their relation with the geographical scope, where three levels of work are determined within the Union of Municipalities, i.e. the Municipality, a grouping of Municipalities sharing the same problems and located within a homogeneous geographical area, and the Union of Municipalities.

This Guidebook was prepared and developed by a multi-disciplinary team, which included urban planning university professors and experts in the domains of local development, municipal work and adult learning. The elaboration process of this Guidebook entailed holding series of consultative meetings that were attended by a number of presidents of Municipalities and Union of Municipalities. These meetings were fundamental to discuss the proposed draft content and methodology and to assess their appropriateness to the local municipal context. In addition, in the scope of the project, two Training of Trainers (ToT) sessions were organized that focused on the concepts the Guidebook is presenting. The formed team of trainers tested the content of the Guidebook during training workshops targeting a number of Unions of Municipalities.

In order to allow its dissemination to the widest number of stakeholders, including bilateral and multilateral donor agencies, only the first part of the guidebook was translated into English. The full version including parts one and two are available in Arabic.

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1.The Urban Situation and the Importance of Local Strategic PlanningThe Evolving Role of Cities

The 21st century is the century of

urbanization. Currently, half of the world

population lives in urban areas. These

areas include villages and small towns of

which the administrative scopes became

intertwined due to urban expansion and

became similar to cities. Challenges related

to urban planning are increasing. Regulating

the development of peri-urban areas is

becoming more complex than regulating a

single municipality. Any decision-making at

the city level does not only affect the city

itself but the entire urban context in which

this city is located. As such, it is imperative

that balanced policies be derived for a

sustainable development based on the

strategic planning and sound governance

concept (i.e. making and implementing

decisions in an equitable and balanced

manner through embracing the concept of

participation, consensus, transparency and

accountability).

Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

International Institute for Sustainable Development; http://www.iisd.org/sd/)

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The Urban Situation in Lebanon

Historically, urban development in Lebanon has been affected by several internal and external factors that gave Lebanese cities, especially Beirut, leading political and economic roles that transformed them into attraction key poles for internal migration. During the civil war (1975-1990), urbanization process was accelerated due to mass displacements or to look for job opportunities. This migration led to a significant decrease in rural area population, and to a considerable increase in the number of urban dwellers. Urbanization has continued to expand in the post-war era in Lebanon. Some sources indicated that this growth has become a

natural phenomenon and is not linked to internal migration (UNESA, 2010).

In Lebanon, urban expansion is concentrated in and around main cities and coastal towns that became inter-connected. Increased poverty has lead to the formation of informal and un-organized areas in and around the cities. This urbanization was not accompanied by any state policies or plans, which turned many cities and towns into a single urban area that is challenged by a lack of basic services, as well as transport problems, traffic congestion and a deterioration of the natural environment.

Statistics indicate that the majority of the Lebanese population (87%) lives nowadays in the cities and their outskirts. This percentage is among the highest compared to other countries, knowing that 64% of them live in Beirut and the regions of Mount Lebanon.

The concept of Greater Beirut has been introduced since early 1990s as a single urban space encompassing the regions extending from Nahr El Kaleb to Damour, including the towns located at a maximum altitude of 700m.

Source: (www.statistiques-mondiales.com/population_urbaine.htm)

8751.17843.29881.777.3

875685.743.498.48285

Lebanon

Syria

Libya

Egypt

Kuwait

United States

France

Country

Role of Local Authorities

Experts and decision makers unanimously agree that cities and urban areas are increasingly taking hold of the political and economic power at the expense of the central government. In some cases, the decentralized local structures enjoy larger powers and competences when dealing with their local affairs. This represents a significant opportunity to promote local development, considering that cities possess immense potentials which enable them become a catalyst for national growth. However, the main challenge lies in enabling municipalities to lead the overall development process.

Urban Planning: OverviewStrategic planning is defined as a systematic decision-making process that focuses attention on important issues and on how to resolve them (UN-Habitat). Common definitions of Strategic Planning agree that it provides answers to four basic questions:

1. Where are we now?

2. Where do we want to go?

3. How do we get there?

4. Have we arrived?

As a result of urban expansion, The Lebanese Municipalities face significant and various challenges. While coastal areas and inner cities are facing the challenges of high population density and the lack of basic services, inland rural areas are witnessing a dramatic population decrease, which is leading to a deteriorated economic situation and reduced local financial resources. Since two decades, and in an attempt to face the various human and financial challenges, a number of Municipalities joined forces and gathered under the umbrella of a new administrative structure: the Unions of Municipalities.

Political considerations are one of the main

factors shaping the size and the form of Unions of Municipalities. These considerations affect considerably the number of Municipalities that have joined or have not joined Unions of Municipalities or even the geographical distribution of those unions. By bringing together their locally available human and financial resources, Unions of Municipalities are better equipped to face the various urban transformations and challenges, including urban expansion and increased population density. In this context, the notion of Strategic Planning emerged as one of the most important tools to allow local authorities manage the various evolutions and transformations caused by rapid urbanization.

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The notion of urban planning has evolved from conventional approaches, widespread in the 1960s, to a variant of modern ones that are applied presently. Applied in a conventional manner, urban planning was restricted to State institutions that usually commission experts to prepare comprehensive master plans or sectoral plans (education, economy, basic services, housing, etc.) to serve the common good. Such approaches focus on the physical aspects of cities (such as road networks, infrastructure and housing). Among these approaches, we can cite the physical planning, master plan, land use and zoning, which are still applied in Lebanon. However, such approaches have been criticized for several reasons, particularly because they are based on idealistic principles (focusing on common good), rather than reality, to solve urban issues. Another reason is the fact that they do not take into consideration the various socio-political and economic aspects of cities and they adopt a top-bottom planning approach that excludes the local community from the decision-making process.

Therefore, new concepts have emerged that consider planning as a continuous participatory process that brings together the State or government institutions, the private sector

CONVENTIONAL MODEL

Centralized approach Top-bottomProduct oriented (the Plan) Action-orientedRigidStarts with the determination of the influential authorityPlanning separated from implementation (and therefore, budgeting) Comprehensive

Limited or politically motivated assessment of situation

Assumes that current trends will continue in the futureBased largely on data rather than stakeholder engagementAdministrative orientation and awarenessPrepared through following instructions and directions

MODERN MODEL

Decentralized approach Bottom-upProcess-oriented and action-orientedCombination of action and reactionFlexibleStarts with consensus on issues Planning, budgeting and implementation integrated

Focused and selective (determining and solving the critical issues on the long term)Strong assessment of internal and external environment (situation)Expects new trends, changes and developments Interactive with a range of stakeholders

Political/multi-stakeholder awareness and involvementPrepared through empowering and building local capacities

and the local community. All these stakeholders along with experts are considered as the main sources of information, recommendations and solutions. Taking as a basis the notions of sustainable development and good governance, these new concepts consider the decision-making process as much important as the outcome results and their realization.

These modern planning approaches are more strategy-oriented than comprehensive and they aim at putting forward sustainable orientations and strategies that respond to the reality and the local context. Strategic Planning represents one of those approaches and it starts with analyzing the current urban situation and the problematic in order to define the adequate policies and development orientations. Mostly used by local authorities in the UK, the development planning approach serves as a tool for policy-making purposes as well as for determining the development orientation and land regulations. Spatial planning, which aims at creating an enabling environment, gives geographical expression to the economic, social, cultural and ecological policies of society. Local planning is confined to the geographical boundaries of one or more administrative units (municipal domain) and is based on the participation of the public and private sectors as well as NGOs and CBOs.

The below table clarifies the differences between the conventional and the modern planning approaches:


2.National Planning Frameworks The planning concept was introduced into the Lebanese administration during the reign of President Fouad Chehab. Previously, this concept was not prevalent in its broad meaning, but was rather limited to the construction of road networks and establishing hubs to connect different cities and regions. This planning concept did not develop much from that time to become part of public institution policies, due to several factors, namely the nature of the Lebanese political system and the major national crises that Lebanon witnessed from decades. Moreover, public policies were sector-focused and limited to the development of certain sectors such as water, electricity, telephone, etc. instead of addressing development in a more comprehensive manner.

Nowadays, planning relies on laws and tools used by public institutions to organize the Lebanese territories. The first urban planning law in Lebanon was issued on September 24, 1962 and was effective for more than twenty years before the issuance of the current law being in force. On September 9, 1983, a legislative decree no. 69 was issued, which vested public authorities with broad prerogatives to regulate the land use, and to determine the locations and forms of urban extensions and of constructions. It also provided these authorities with many competences for implementing urban plans.

The National Physical Master Plan for the Lebanese Territories is considered the unique official national framework. This plan defines a national policy frame for re-balanced demographic, economic, industrial, agricultural and environmental conditions. After analyzing the existing data and statistics and elaborating the various demographic, economic, urban and transport studies, the Plan concluded with a

The National Physical Master Planfor the Lebanese Territory

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set of recommendations and future directions that would be adopted for policy making purposes. This plan constitutes a referential framework for the regional/local master plans prepared by the Directorate General of Urban Planning in an attempt to align them with the national trends and with each other when they are related to two adjacent regions

Public Institutions Concerned with Planning

1. Council for Development and Reconstruction (CDR): It was established by virtue of the legislative decree no. 5/77 dated January 31st 1977 and is directly accountable to the Council of Ministers through the Prime Minister. This legislative decree has vested the CDR with wide prerogatives in the field of planning, however, taking into account the necessary consultation and cooperation with the concerned ministries, public institutions and Municipalities. The CDR is entrusted with the following tasks:

Devising global and specific plans and programs for reconstruction and development, and to propose various economic, financial and social policies;

Putting forward a budget plan related to the implementation of the global plan;

Proposing draft laws pertaining to reconstruction and development and submitting them to the Council of Ministers;

Preparing the general framework for urban planning in Lebanon.

The CDR executes various projects determined by ministries and public institutions. In addition to the above-mentioned tasks, the CDR prepares calls for tenders for consultancy offices and contracting companies and supervises their work.

2. Directorate General of Urban Planning (DGUP): It is responsible for formulating draft legislative and regulatory texts pertaining to urban planning and construction to be submitted to the Higher

Technical ProceduresAll technical and engineering procedures that concern Municipalities are dealt with by the regional technical offices affiliated to the DGUP except for Beirut and Tripoli Municipalities and the Unions of Municipalities of Metn, Jbeil and Kesrouan.

Council of Urban Planning. Upon approval, these texts are presented to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers for all legal intents and purposes. The Directorate General is also entrusted with developing designs, master plans, zoning as well as land parceling. Usually, these tasks are carried out through commissioning consulting firms that submit the proposed plans to the DGUP for review and are then submitted to the Higher Council of Urban Planning for approval and finally submitted to the Presidency of the Council of Ministers for all legal intents and purposes.

3. Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities: According to Article 49 of the Municipal Law (legislative decree no. 118/77), the Municipality can, in collaboration with the DGUP, draft its master or detailed plans, designs as well regulations, and parceling projects. In order to do this, the municipality commissions a consulting firm, and later submits the study to the Higher Council for Urban Planning. However, and in most cases, the Municipality is unable to lead on its own this process due to limited financial and human resources. Thus, it solicits the support of the Directorate General of Urban Planning.

It is worth noting that since few years, a number of Unions of Municipalities have started developing regional strategic plans in collaboration with a number of agencies and international organizations such as the World Bank, the French Development Agency, United Cities and Local Governments, UN-Habitat, etc. While such plans may not lead to the design and implementation of important projects, they however abide by the regulations and laws in force.


The number of municipalities in Lebanon is relatively large when compared to the countrys surface and demography. Lebanon counts a total number of 981 Municipalities (according to the figures of the Municipality of Interior and Municipalities, autumn 2011), distributed as follows:

The municipal law authorizes Municipalities to play a leading role in the local planning processes. In fact, they are the key local agents concerned in the management of their territories, including identifying their capacities and discerning their problems. However, due to the small size of the majority of Municipalities and their limited human, technical and financial capacities (nearly 98% of the total), Municipalities are unable to develop local plans on their own. Furthermore, it is sometimes indicated that a large number of Municipalities share with other neighboring Municipalities homogeneous urban space with common topographic, environmental, social, cultural, and other features. In other instances, there are no common denominators among

3.The Municipal Context And The Strategic Planning Challenges

Municipalities despite falling within the same Union of Municipalities. Therefore, except for big cities, it would be challenging in Lebanon to have one strategic plan for one Municipality.

These Unions encompass a total of 600 Municipalities, i.e. about 62% of the total number of Municipalities. Although their establishment is based on political and regional considerations, the existence of Unions offers a great opportunity for the enhancement of municipal work providing that Municipalities affiliated to a specific Union are able to interact and cooperate to face common problems.

Number of registered population

Number of members of the Municipal Council

Number of Municipalities

% of Total

2000 - 4000

4001 - 24000

Lebanon has 47 Unions of Municipalities, distributed as follows:

Governorate of Northern Lebanon

Governorate of Mount Lebanon

Governorate of Beqaa

Governorate of Nabatiyeh

Governorate of Southern Lebanon

Akkar

Minieh/Donniyeh

Tripoli

Zgharta

Koura

Bsharri

Batroun

Caza

Total

Governorate of Northern Lebanon

No.

Jbeil

Keserwan

Metn

Baabda

Aley

Shouf

Caza

Total

Governorate of Mount Lebanon

No.

Hermel

Baalbek

Zahleh

West Beqaa

Rashaya

Caza

Total

Governorate of Beqaa

No.

Nabatiyeh

Hasbaya

Marjeyoun

Bint Jbeil

Caza

Total

Governorate of Nabatiyeh

No.

Saida

Sour

Jezzine

Caza

Governorate of Southern Lebanon

No.

Total


Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities can be divided into three levels. Those have been classified according to the urban expansion trends and to the prevailing local political context.

At the level of Municipalities

- Small Municipalities are primarily located at the peripheries and are witnessing a continuous decline in the size of their population.

In these Municipalities, the number of registered voters exceeds the number of residents and people coming from other villages and towns. This reality has two implications. On one hand, these Municipalities lack human and financial resources (either from the money transferred through the independent municipal fund or from revenues generated by local taxes). On the other hand, migration constitutes the major challenge for the sustainable development process in these Municipalities.

- Small and medium-size municipalities with the number of residents exceeding the number of registered voters.

In general, these municipalities are either the administrative capital of a Caza or are located in the suburbs of big cities. In this particular case, although they are more resourceful due to the large tax revenue, urban pressure constitutes a major threat to the sustainability of the environment and the social structure of these Municipalities.

- Major cities enjoying significant resources and large-scale administrative bodies.

These municipalities have a vast experience in the field of municipal work. Nevertheless, despite the fact that they represent vital economic hubs in Lebanon where the demographic density in the highest, they require continuous monitoring and evaluation of their strategies in order to face the urban transformations and respond to their development needs.

At the Level of Unions of Municipalities

- Large-scale Unions of Municipalities covering a large surface and sometimes and an entire

Caza. Due to the difficulty in developing one strategic plan covering the entire area, the Union of Municipalities should consider dividing the area either into homogenous geographical regions or into sub-regions agreed upon between affiliated municipalities.

- Unions of Municipalities that are not connected geographically. This type poses a challenge in relation to the preparation of a strategic plan that is convenient for all the Municipalities affiliated to the Union. Furthermore, this type requires flexible strategic planning encompassing a number of orientations that respond to common challenges shared by a group of Municipalities that are geographically connected.

- Two or more Unions of Municipalities sharing homogeneous territories: In that case, it is essential to integrate strategic planning within the common projects of such unions.

Municipalities or Unions of Municipalities are faced with a number of challenges in the strategic planning process. Those are detailed as follows:

1. Regulatory Challenges: The Lebanese Municipalities are subject to the legislative decree no. 118/77 and its amendments. This decree vests the Municipalities with large powers in order to manage any work having a public character or utility within its area. However, other decrees were issued and lead to constrained municipal work. In fact, the majority of the decisions taken by the

Municipal work is hindered by the centrality of decision-making. This limits the prerogatives and independence of Municipalities and minimizes the chance to develop strategic plans that often requires the amendment of some laws and decrees in force.

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2. Financial Challenges: The first article of the Municipal Law grants Municipalities some financial independence. However, the direct taxes collected by Municipalities remain limited and are barely sufficient to pay the salaries of employees. Taxes are two types: direct taxes and include fees imposed on the rental value of houses, pavements and sewers, as well as construction and advertising licenses. As for the indirect taxes collected by the State administrations and institutions on behalf of Municipalities and deposited in the Independent Municipal Fund, they are paid irregularly based on the number of registered people and not on the number of residents.

The current centralized financial policy (i.e. Independent Municipal Fund) limits the ability of Municipalities to formulate and implement strategic plans, since the amounts are irregularly transferred and not sufficient for implementing development projects or for providing the different services.

Strategic planning requires varied human competencies and qualifications. Municipalities and Unions of Municipalities suffer from the lack of competent human resources; as candidates with specialized technical competencies do not apply to work for Municipalities.

Municipalities in Lebanon are affected by the absence of an institutional framework needed for the progress of their work. The newly elected Municipal Council can cancel a strategic plan that a former municipal council prepared and already proceeded with its implementation.

Municipal Council are subject to the prior supervision of the representatives of the central government, namely the Governor and the Kaem Makam or the financial controller. Moreover, other guardianship authorities impede the work of Municipalities, namely the Council of Ministers, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Court of Audit, the Central Inspection Board, the Directorate General of Urban Planning, the Directorate General of Antiquities and others.

3. Administrative and Technical Challenges: The majority of the Lebanese Municipalities lack qualified human resources, especially in terms of technical competencies. This is due to several factors, namely the issue of recruitment in public administrations, the under-developed qualifications of existing staff and the very low wages compared to the private sector. These factors have negative consequences on the proper functioning and the quality of the municipal work.

4. Politics and Decision Making Challenges: The municipal elections generate, in general, municipal councils that have no common and clear development vision and plans. They are rather the product of political or family-based agreements. The role of the members of the Municipal Council often becomes limited directly after the elections, except for the President and the Vice-President. In some instances, political figures, including deputies and ministers, impose themselves as representatives of their city and take decisions related to daily affairs and their relevant projects, and they seek to implement them through the centralized State institutions.


Definition of Local Strategic Planning

Local strategic planning can be defined as participatory and interactive process encompassing all society constituents. It helps decision makers identify future trends based on the current challenges and opportunities. It also provides a tool to devise scenarios for possible solutions related to the spatial dimension as well as the available frameworks and financial capacities.

4.Local Strategic Planning At The Level Of Municipalities And Unions Of Municipalities

Strategic planning serves the dual purpose of:

1- Representing a political, economic and environmental reference guiding local authorities towards designing proper policies that would ensure a balanced distribution of resources, services and opportunities within the urban area.

2- Constituting a database that includes, in addition to indicators, the principles of rights to the city. Thus, it is imperative to adopt the appropriate strategic planning process that caters to the needs of different types and sizes of municipalities, be them small, medium or large.

For strategic planning to be successful, a number of key challenges should be overcome:

1- Local authorities should efficiently design

and master proper policies aiming at achieving local development.

2- Accurate information should be available to allow Unions of Municipalities and big cities assess their situation and determine their capabilities in order to prepare plans and negotiate them with the central government and other concerned parties.

3- Technical and administrative competencies and capacities should be available with local authorities to elaborate relevant strategic plans.

4- The ability of the local authorities to achieve the pre-determined goals and allowing for a wider local community participation (the registered and non-registered ones) and establishing efficient partnerships with civil society institutions and the private sector.

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Local strategic planning encompasses four main elements:

- The urban space- Local authorities- Sources of information- Monitoring and information analysis

Each of these elements contributes to local strategic planning process, forming a full cycle. The interaction between these elements leads to the production of applicable and adopted local plans that are based on accurate data and indicators and are linked spatially to a specific geographical frame. In order to achieve this, two main conditions should be met: 1- Relying on the National Physical Master Plan of the Lebanese Territories as a reference for the all types of interventions that resulted from the local strategic planning process. 2- Adopting a participatory approach to strengthen the capacities of community constituents and to create the proper socio-economic and political environment needed to the success of the local strategic planning process. Strategic planning is considered incomplete if any of these four previously mentioned elements are missing.

The strategic plan can cover an urban area that surpasses the municipalitys administrative boundaries and accordingly it could cover a number of Municipalities Strategic planning relies on collecting and analyzing data with the full engagement of community representatives who do not only provide and analyze information but also take part in concluding the core problems of the studied urban area.

The interaction between the four elements leads to successful strategic planning. This latter would be incomplete and rejected by local communities in case local authorities consider themselves the sole party capable of identifying and analyzing problems based on their sources of information. Moreover, strategic planning would be incomplete if the urban area is not determined correctly and not linked to the existing problems.

Elements of Local Strategic Planning

TopographyVegetationResidence

UsesServicesNetworksHydrology

Subsoil

Topography

VegetationResidenceUses

Services Networks Social SituationEconomic Situation

Structured System

Dismantling & Analyzingmain Structures

Re-assemblingThe Structural System

Analyzing Relationsbetween Structural Elements

Re-assemblingthe Complex System


Monito

ring and An

alyzing Urban Outputs

Nation

al Master Plan for the Lebanese Territories

National Master Plan for th

e Leb

anes

e Te

rrito

ries

Developing and Implem

enting Urban Policie

URBAN AREA

LOCALAUTHORITIES

MONITORING & ANALYSIS

KNOWLEDGE & INFORMATION

SOURCESColl

ectin

g U

rban

Dat

a an

d Pr

oces

sing

Infor

mati

on

LEVELS OFSOURCES

- Local- Regional- National

Monitoring and Analyzing Urban

Outpu

ts

REFERENCES FOR SETTING POLICIES- Municipalities- Unions of Municipalities- Council of Development

and Reconstruction (CDR)- Urban and Municipal

Authorities- Others

Partici-pation

These elements are explained as follows:

Urban AreaIt refers to the inhabited geographic scope, which can be limited to the boundaries of a municipal domain or surpass it to reach neighboring Municipalities or Union of Municipalities, depending on the existing shared problems. The urban area represents a structured system that is formed of a number of layers. During the strategic planning elaboration process, this system is dismantled; its layers and levels are identified,and analyzed to allow gain a better understanding the underlying relations between these different components, either in terms of problems, the size and geographical scope, and the extent of their linkages and similarities with other Municipalities. At a later stage, this system is re-assembled according to the results of the analysis.

Local AuthoritiesThe term indicates relevant elected or appointed authorities and administrations concerned in planning. Due to their presence and location, local authorities act as a reference in promoting partnerships with the civil society and the private sector in an attempt to improve the quality of service provision, to enhance social responsibility, and to ensure the participation of residents in devising public policies. The essential role of these authorities lies in the decision-making process depending on available financial and human capacities and legal frameworks regulating their mandate.

Sources of InformationThese are the available sources that are linked to the problems and issues related to the urban area. They can be obtained from relevant NGOs as well as public and private institutions (universities, research laboratories, Municipalities, media, trade unions, associations, etc.). Information usually covers local, Municipal, Unions of Municipalities, regional or national levels and is presented in the form of different indicators that contribute to decision-making and policy formulation.

Monitoring and AnalysisIt uses available mechanisms and structures

23

Have we arrived?

Whe

re a

re

we n

ow?PHASE 4

PH

ASE

3PHASE 2

PHAS

E 1

Where do w

e want to go? How do

w

e ge

t the

re?

Preparatory Phase

Reference PlanIdentification of Strategic Objectives and Directions

Visioning

Diagnosis

LOCAL PARTICIPATION

Monitoring & Evaluation

Action Plans

Adjustment of Process

Decision by the Union of Municipality

Formation of the eld team

Community Mobilization & participation

to analyze information related to the main issues and problems and to identify the indicators that would determine future transformations. The indicators rely on the contributions of experts and residents to unveil common challenges and goals and help governments at the local and national levels to reconsider the goals and priorities of their policies in light of the new challenges and goals.

Local Strategic Planning Cycle

Local Strategic Planning ProcessThe Local strategic planning process answers the following four key questions. Where are we now? Where do we want to go? How do we get there? Have we arrived?

Each of these questions is considered a phase by itself, which means that the local strategic planning process includes four phases each consisting of a number of steps. These phases and steps constitute an integrated cycle (see graph below). Since strategic planning is a long-term process, it should be flexible, and subject to amendments and revision according to the changes that could occur during the implementation process.

Monitoring means controlling and following up on a specific case and identifying the new relevant changes, be them positive or negative.


Final cover 1.pdfBinder2.pdfBinder1.pdfUN-Habitat English.pdfFinal cover 1

Final cover 1

local strategic planning - at the level of municipalities & unions of municipalities in lebanon

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