Regulating informal housing for the Syrian reconstruction. Between urban renewal and upgrading
| Date | 27 November 2023 |
| Pages | 169-184 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPPEL-04-2023-0013 |
| Published date | 27 November 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Property management & built environment,Building & construction,Building & construction law,Real estate & property,Property law |
| Author | Antonio-Martín Porras-Gómez |
Regulating informal housing
for the Syrian reconstruction.
Between urban renewal
and upgrading
Antonio-Martín Porras-G
omez
Facultat de Dret, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Abstract
Purpose –Informal housing stands out as a major challenge surrounding the massive reconstruction of
Syrian cities,devastated by a bloody war and a terrible earthquake.The purpose of this article is to assessthe
adequacyof the Syrian Law to adequate provide a solution to this problem.
Design/methodology/approach –With the purpose of informingthe question, this paper offers a legal-
institutional analysis of the informal housing phenomenon and the corresponding regulatory responses
in Syria. A literature review is conducted, and functional analysis of the legal texts and their effective
implementationis provided.
Findings –First, informal housing in Syria has been fostered by the existence of an erratic regulation,
particularly burdened by the incoherence of passing repressive provisions against informal housing while
master plans were conspicuously absent or incomplete. Second, the regulatory policy seems to be leaning
toward the urban renewal option, indicating a supply-oriented housing approach that may face serious
challenges due to the scarcityof capital. In this context, regulation should not underestimate any policy tools
at hand (renewaland upgrading; with the contribution of public,private and cooperative sectors).
Originality/value –Although there have been several studies on informal housing in Syria, none has
taken a legal institutionalist approach. Furthermore,this study offers an up-to-date account of the problem,
taking into accountthe problematic after the 2023 earthquake and the content of Law 2/2023.
Keywords Urban renewal, Zoning, Syrian civil war, Informal housing, Law 10/2018,
Urban upgrading
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The civil war has forced more than 5.6 million Syriansto leave their country and has left 6.9
million internally displaced(UNHCR, 2022), in a scenario of massive urban destruction with
an estimated 328,000 dwellings destroyed or severelydamaged (UN HABITAT, 2022,p.8).
The 2023 earthquake only added to this grim picture, as 8,000 buildings were destroyed or
left severely damaged (The Syria Report,2023a). After this colossal devastation, it is time to
explore the optimal approaches for establishing the foundation for an urban reconstruction
that upholds human rights. Thisis so, not only because reconstruction is a conditio sine qua
non for solving the humanitarian crisis and rekindling economic growth, but also because
precarious housing and inadequateservices contributed to the conditions that incubated the
unrest that precipitated the civil war. Many of the protests that sparked the conflict were
initiated precisely in neighborhoods affected by informal housing (ESCWA, 2016,p.4;
Almanasfi, 2019, p. 82). These were areas that gathered social groups whose miserable
living conditions contributed to their self-perception as oppressed collectivitiesin a context
of exacerbated inequality(Goulden, 2011, p. 200). In a United Nations DevelopmentProgram
Between urban
renewal and
upgrading
169
Received17 April 2023
Revised29 August 2023
4 October2023
29October 2023
2November 2023
Accepted9 November 2023
Journalof Property, Planning and
EnvironmentalLaw
Vol.16 No. 3, 2024
pp. 169-184
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2514-9407
DOI 10.1108/JPPEL-04-2023-0013
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
https://www.emerald.com/insight/2514-9407.htm
report of 2006, informal housing was prophetically described as a time bomb “which could
detonate at any moment”(Goulden, 2011, p. 200). By 2010, the proportion of informal
housing in Syria was close to 50% (Kassouha, 2020, p. 216). The eruption of the civil war
occurred against this backdropof circumstances. With its tendency to overlook construction
standards, informalityalso played a role in deepening the devastation brought about by the
2023 earthquake (TheSyria Report, 2023a).
Amid an exceptionally challenging postwar context, compounded by the devastating
earthquake of 2023, informal housing has surged to historic proportions. The extent of
physical destruction is profound,whereas legal uncertainty has reached high levels (Cunial,
2016, p. 12). As a State Party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Civil
Rights, according to its art. 11, Syria has an affirmativeobligation to work toward realizing
(and ultimately, ensuring) the right to adequate housing. However, the incidences of
informal housing are more widespread than ever, affectingmore than half of the population
(UN HABITAT, 2020, p. 75). The sheer magnitude of the problem brings out the need to
revisit the foundations of the Syrian urban legislation. At the same time, this scenario has
paradoxically created an opportunity: because the largest share of destruction impacted
informal housing areas(ESCWA, 2016, p. 4), there is a unique opportunity to cut the Gordian
knot and start zoning on a clean slate ready for urbanrenewal.
From the year 2000 onward, there has been an ongoing dialectical struggle between
successive legal instruments promoting regulatory repression and urban renewal versus
regulatory leniency and urban upgrading. The last iteration of these cycles took place in
2023, with Law 2/2023. To shed light on the regulatory responses, a comprehensive
compilation and analysis of Syrian zoninglegislation was conducted, as well as a literature
review. The main methodology appliedis text analysis of legislative provisions. Diachronic
patterns of regulatory evolution were identified, and a functional analysis was conducted.
The research questionsare:
RQ1. What are the factors contributing to the high proportion of informal housing in Syria?
RQ2. What explains the regulatoryresponses to the problem?
RQ3. Can the reforms set in placesince 2000 provide a basis for reversing the situation?
This last question seems allthe most appropriate given that the current conditions represent
a unique historical window of opportunity for rebuilding the country. To address these
questions, this article offersa single case study, that is, an inquiry into a spatially bounded
phenomenon (Syrian informal housing)observed over a delimited period of time (from 2000
onward). As a doctrinal study that looks at the consistencyof the Syrian legal system, it has
an idiographic dimension that suits its single-case character. As an explanatory and design
study, looking at the causes of informal housing and the convenience of the Syrian
legislation to address the postwar reconstruction, it has a nomothetic dimension. To this
respect, it overcomes its single-case limitations by building on previous explanatory and
design knowledge that is cited along the text (most notably, in Section 2). The article
proceeds as follows: in Section 2, the theoretical framework is delineated. The historical
context is set out in Section 3. Next, the legal frameworkand its evolution, from Law 26/2000
to Law 2/2023, is analyzed in Section 4. Section 5 discusses the main findings, which are
summarized in Section6.
2. Theoretical framework
Informality can be conceivedas a (by)product of the legal system (Larson, 2002, p. 157), with the
formal/informal dichotomy referring to the legality or illegality of a situation (Chiodelli, 2019,
JPPEL
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