JBAIL-BYBLOS Municipality transformed an empty area into a green area as a 14000 square meters public park, with a 5000 square meters parking lot, funded by the Banque du Liban. As the number of visitors and tourists increased, free parking spaces located in the heart of the city behind the public park were expanded in May 2017 to fit about 450 cars.
The public park is located in the city center, next to the archaeological area. Byblos is full of tourist attractions, yet the municipality saw the need to add an ecotourism destination. Rife with buildings and constructions, the municipality had to breathe life back into the region, in honor of the adopted slogan of making JBAIL an eco-friendly city. The park, which construction started in September 2010 and ended in October 2011, includes rest areas, pedestrian areas, a small pond, a stage, a concerts area and an outdoors public gym. Most importantly, the entire park covers green spaces, planted by Exotica with perennial and biennial trees and plants such olive, cypress, date palm and orange trees, along with flowers, roses and aromatic plants. A kids’ area and a playground for children are also available. It strikes us as peculiar that before its completion, the project - implemented by the municipality in cooperation with the Ministry of Environment and the Council for Development and Reconstruction – managed to win the award of the Second Edition of EME3 International Festival for Architecture held in Barcelona, Spain for its “Public Park” project. The project was praised by the competition organizers for its importance and positive impact on the city’s environment and families. The project was well received in the award ceremony and was considered to have a great moral value.
