Over a decade of war in Libya the second city Benghazi has mushroomed to twice its size, creating an unplanned and chaotic urban sprawl. As the oil-rich but poverty-stricken North African country tries to stabilise and rebuild, authorities are scrambling to address the legacy of years without urban planning. “We had to leave our homes in the city centre because of the war,” said one Benghazi resident, Jalal al-Gotrani, a health ministry employee in the northeastern coastal city. “Stop building and contact the planning department!” reads a notice on the fence of one unauthorised building site on the outskirts of Benghazi. The eastern city has swelled from 32,000 hectares to 64,000 hectares since the last urban masterplan in 2009, largely due to unlicensed buildings which now make up half the city, he said.

Source: The North Africa Journal November 19, 2021 14:09 UTC