The spatial-temporal production of public space within the context of demonstration: mapping the unrest collective practices of Beirut Central District

It becomes especially evident during the rebellion how cities represent physical and symbolic terrain for socio-political reform. Protesters redraw the urban geography to challenge the current spatial configurations of control by selecting meeting points, tracing protest paths, and choosing occupation sites. This research calls the changes in the space-object relationship and its role in developing the production of contested spaces, within the context of demonstration. It aims at building a chain of theoretical and empirical evidence to inform the theory with empirical data that highlight and explains the modification in the theoretical model of the experiential production of space, within the public setting in Beirut.
This research analysis multi entities of the routine and eventual features that contribute to the explanation of the spatial-temporal production of public space in Beirut Central District. Combined protest event and user’s experience methods established a systematic narrative that is correlated to the spatiotemporal identity of the practices, along with the citizens’ perception of the space and events. The methodology utilised a collection of scattered resources, developed an equation and grid system that allocated the crowd on an equally divided time-lapse using GIS. The research produced a visual narrative of the spatial allocation, population, and densities of the occupiers’ crowd of the defined protest events. The analysis of the distinguished crowd’s layouts shows a high probability of correlation between the dynamics of the crowd and arousing the sense of being threatened – translated into violent actions.
By reflecting on other examples of the Beiruti story of contesting public spaces, the research concluded that the collective perception of spatial dominance has changed. The crowd’s preferences of focusing on dominating connections rather than area indicated that, on eventual phases of producing public spaces in Beirut, the potential domination of the social objects contributed stronger to the production of the unoccupied space.