Urban Planning – Education next door

In April, the American University of Beirut hosted a lecture by Omar Blaik, an urban specialist known for upgrading blighted areas around American universities. Blaik, a Lebanese-American, is renowned for his work in ameliorating the neighborhood around the University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, but has consulted with other educational institutions, including the AUB. Most interesting in Blaik’s approach is his assumption that universities have a proactive economic role to play in their neighborhoods, and must run their affairs like a company. That’s not to suggest he wants them to downgrade their core educational mission too make money. Rather, he argues that such a mission is best served by establishing an adequate social environment for learning. Until a few years ago, the area around UPenn was so dangerous that the university had to cut itself off from its surroundings, undermining its educational objectives. Blaik has degrees in business administration and engineering,