A recent statistical survey conducted by the World Population Review (2017) suggested that 1,916,100 reside in the city of Beirut and its suburbs. A relatively high number considering that the country’s overall population is 6,034,876 based on the latest United Nations estimates (2017). Current scientiﬁc approaches to cities usually focus on their physical features, economic properties, and political characteristics. But what about the psychological makeup of people who live in cities? The place where we grew up or currently reside is more than a physical space. It deﬁnes who we are, think about ourselves and others, and the way we live. When we meet others for the ﬁrst time, we often ask, “Where are you from?” This is a conversational gambit that could be answered in many ways, but often people respond by naming their hometown. Now next time you ask someone where they are from, try to imagine them saying:” Ouzville.” For those of you who have not been introduced to the newly established Ouzville, this is what you need to know: Ouzville is an initiative carried out by Lebanese investor Ayad Nasser, and aims at transforming the facade of Ouzai area near the international airport by painting the walls of severely neglected buildings, and cleaning the beach with the help of local people and volunteers.

Out of sight out of mind. This has been the state of Beirut’s outer slum of Ouzai. An area where the majority of its residents settled illegally, fleeing the war that has destroyed the social and economic textures of the country, and drastically changing its geodemographic characteristics. The residents of Ouzai suffer from a disastrous arbitrary urban planning and development. This arbitrary power is associated with another phenomenon: corruption. The corruption starts at the top of the country’s pyramid, with politicians overlooking the basic needs and rights of the citizens occupying areas such as Ouzai, spreading all the way down to the occupants of the area leading a life which is coherent with the state of corruption and the absence of laws and regulations. Without strict guidelines, Ouzai residents have been given the freedom to make decisions based only on their own feelings without having to explain them to anyone. As a result, what once used to be a destination for lovers of white sand beaches and sunday picnics, is now a disastrous representation of the country’s lack of proper planning and wide spread of utter corruption.

What then drove people to get so excited about the Ouzville initiative? Why did it gain the media’s attention the way it did? Why did the locals rush with their brushes to rainbow paint their walls? Why were the schools’ students of the Ouzai area so excited about cleaning the beach?

On the surface, the answer seems very obvious: because they want to improve their surrounding neighbourhoods and their living conditions. But is painting the external walls of poverty torn buildings considered an improvement of living conditions? It most certainly is not. It is however a representation of people’s need for a formal definition of public and private identities: We are where we live! This might be the reason why they would like to say: We are “Ouzville”. We are the residents of multicolor city. A city that hides its scars and wounds under tons of makeup. A makeup that allows them o to send a message very crucial for their existence: “We are just like the rest of you.”

The “Ouzville” initiative will shortly be referred to as the “Ouzville” Syndrome, because more people across the country want to paint their external walls, more want to have a state of normalcy, more want to think they are worthy of, if not a decent life, colours!