ABSTRACT
Marketplaces or ‘souqs’ have been the melting pots of Beirut, Lebanon, throughout its history. In the historical city centre, reconstructed by the real estate company Solidere, the “Beirut Souks” was designed to present a contemporary version of a shopping centre as marketplace. Away from Beirut’s centre, at its eastern administrative border, and along the Beirut Riverbank fringe is located Souq Al-Ahad, the Sunday market. It presents a striking contrast to the Beirut Souks on various levels. Among them include its disputed location at the border of two municipalities, perceptions and stereotyping of its users and its operation. Souq Al-Ahad has attracted the attention of the Lebanese media and researchers who have explored its operation, user profiles and refugee livelihood. However, there seems to be a gap in defining Souq Al-Ahad’s positionality in its current location vis-à-vis surrounding land dynamics. Using the concepts of ‘liminality’ and ‘fluidity’, and building on available references and media reports, this chapter explains the marketplace’s liminal position spatially and socially and its fluid state amidst urban land transformations, which grant it a new meaning in its struggle against surrounding gentrification.
