Reconstruction plan for eastern Damascus neighborhoods alarms residents
PARIS — Day by day, Abu Bilal is losing hope that he will ever have the chance to rebuild his home in the Jobar neighborhood of Damascus, amid a “lack of transparency” from the Syrian government over reconstruction and compensation for residents of razed communities like his.
While Abu Bilal and others like him wait for government decisions to compensate them for at least part of their losses, local authorities are offering something else: plans to rebuild the capital’s destroyed eastern neighborhoods through private investment—a prospect that residents Syria Direct spoke to consider “theft” of their property rights.
Eleven years ago, Abu Bilal and his family fled their home in Jobar—which was later completely destroyed in bombardment by Assad regime forces—and settled in the nearby Barzeh neighborhood. Ever since, he has spent nearly half his monthly earnings on rent.
“After the regime fell, we were hopeful that our suffering with displacement and high rents would soon end. We thought our destroyed neighborhoods would be rebuilt and we would return,” he told Syria Direct. “It seems that was just a dream.”
Instead, Syrians from the destroyed eastern Damascus neighborhoods of Jobar, al-Qaboun and Tishreen now worry about losing their property, fearing the reconstruction process could become a legal and administrative mechanism that gradually pushes them out or curtails their rights under the pretext of urban planning and development.
In mid-March, Damascus Governor Maher Marwan met with residents from the destroyed eastern neighborhoods to announce a proposed $21 billion real estate investment project to be implemented by Arab and international companies over an area of 1,100 hectares in eastern Damascus. Property owners would be compensated for 50 percent of residential real estate and 30 percent of agricultural land, including unauthorized structures.
In other words, a homeowner in Jobar, al-Qaboun or Tishreen would receive alternative housing equivalent to half the area of a home built on land zoned for real estate, or less than a third of the area of agricultural land or any structures built upon it.
The governorate’s proposals were met with widespread anger from residents, who described the project as “theft and looting” of their properties. In their view, the plan was no different from laws and decrees issued under the Assad regime, such as Decree 66 of 2012 and Law 10 of 2018, that caused many Syrians to lose their properties.
Residents, activists and lawyers from al-Qaboun responded with a statement outlining their “red lines” for the governorate’s proposals and investment projects they described as “administrative forced displacement.” They called for “fair reconstruction that preserves land and dignity,” as well as respect for private property rights.
While residents of Damascus’s destroyed neighborhoods feel the local authorities are working against them, Governor Marwan stated in an April 12 dialogue session that he would not go against the local community’s wishes. At the same time, he pointed to challenges with alternative options to fund reconstruction, such as grants or loans.
As for grants, “there is nothing real or tangible yet on the ground,” but should funds materialize, “would they be allocated only to Jobar and al-Qaboun, or distributed proportionally across all of Syria, most of which is in ruins?” Marwan asked. As for foreign loans, the state has prohibited them, he added.
“The fundamental problem lies with how government officials are handling the issue of reconstruction,” Mazhar Sharbaji, a governance expert and former head of the Darayya City Council, told Syria Direct. Additionally, some officials “present preliminary concepts for urban planning schemes or promises of investment to the public as though they were actual investments, which is dangerous.”
“Any reconstruction process must fully restore people’s rights in accordance with transitional justice and reparation. Whoever had 150 square meters should have the full 150 square meters returned to them,” Sharbaji added. “The governorate can find solutions for this, such as increasing building heights and expanding the urban plan to resolve compensation issues.”
From a legal standpoint, “the issue is not measured by whether it is called urban planning, but by its actual impact on the owners’ rights,” said lawyer Suleiman al-Qarfan, a council member at the Syrian Lawyers Syndicate.
“These proposals strike at the essence of property rights when they result in depriving the owner of effective control over their property—[the ability to] dispose of, use or benefit from it—or [cause] a fundamental change in the nature of the right, such as converting ownership of a specific property into an undefined share, [imposing] a prolonged or indefinite delay in benefiting from it or providing compensation that is unfair or below market value,” al-Qarfan said.
A video taken in al-Qaboun and provided to Syria Direct shows the massive level of destruction to the eastern Damascus neighborhood, where many homes were leveled by Assad regime bombardment during the war.
Returning to rubble
In Jobar, Abu Qassem Rida (a pseudonym) and his brothers own around 567 square meters of real estate land. They hold a title deed (green tabu) proving ownership of the land, which before the Syrian revolution included a three-story building and shops, all of which were completely destroyed during the war.
“Nothing remains, so there is no solution but to rebuild a multi-story building so all members of the family get apartments,” Rida told Syria Direct on condition of anonymity for security reasons. His family has tried and failed to obtain a permit to build it. “The government prevents reconstruction, and does not give permits in Jobar,” he said.
Rida, like all the sources Syria Direct spoke with in eastern Damascus, rejects the governorate’s proposal. They said partial compensation—50 percent for real estate plots and 30 percent for unauthorized structures on agricultural land—diminishes owners’ rights to the original land area and transfers the right of vertical expansion, also known as “air rights,” to investors.
“These proposals are more like a scam to seize our property. If my share is 100 square meters, the governorate offers me half or a third of that, and I have to buy the remaining portion of my original area,” Rida said with disapproval. “Meanwhile, they and the investors will get the roof and the air [rights], and can construct additional floors and high-rises.”
The solution, in his view, is for residents to “return to the rubble of our homes—let each person build as they see fit,” Rida added. “We can contract with investors to build on the land and obtain a higher share than the percentages set by the governorate, since the local customary rates are higher, while adhering to the organizational plans set by the governorate.”
For example, “we could find a contractor to build a five-story building on our land, giving us three floors—our original property—in exchange for two floors as compensation for the construction costs,” he explained.
Khaled al-Suleiman (a pseudonym), who is from Jobar, also categorically rejects the compensation offer. “They want to organize and invest, and we don’t reject that. We do reject the percentage proposed,” he told Syria Direct. “If the governorate cannot provide real compensation, it should at least take care of the infrastructure, and we will rebuild.”
“Most properties in Jobar had three or four floors. The new plan includes six- and eight-floor towers, so the acceptable solution is for the owner to receive the original number of floors while the investor gets the rest, which ensures we return to our homes,” Suleiman said.
Commenting on that, Deputy Governor of Damascus Muammar Dakak said: “Reconstruction is a comprehensive process that includes a series of planning, legal, administrative and community measures” aimed at “rebuilding urban communities while addressing, as much as possible, preexisting shortcomings so they become balanced, healthy, environmental and sustainable communities—ensuring a dignified return for rights-holders and preserving what is possible of the identity and spatial memory of the areas to be rebuilt.”
“Giving a development and investment dimension, in a way suited to the characteristics of each area, is positive,” Dakak told Syria Direct, despite residents’ negative view of the proposed investment projects. “The proper utilization of investments helps ensure the continued provision of local resources to serve the community.”
The northeastern neighborhoods “form the northern entrance to the city of Damascus, which is an important axis, and its development is essential for the growth of the urban settlements within it, as well as to achieve comprehensive development across the entire city—without adversely affecting property owners,” the deputy governor added.
An aerial photo of Jobar shows the aftermath of destruction and looting of the eastern Damascus neighborhood by the Assad regime, 31/8/2025 (SANA)
‘Compensation deal’
For many who own property in al-Qaboun, Jobar and Tishreen, reconstruction does not begin with maps and urban plans, nor with simple financial compensation or real estate shares they consider less than what they have lost. Rather, it means the right to return to the same place, which leaves any offer that does not guarantee restoration of their original rights—or reduces their ownership to shares—a “compensation deal” rather than a project for a just return, Abu Bilal said.
The problem with the Damascus governorate’s proposals is that they are “investment projects more than reconstruction projects that prioritize the landowners,” Said Abdulhamid (a pseudonym) said from Jobar. It is the displaced residents’ right to have the government “remove rubble, repair infrastructure and guarantee our return to the same place,” he added.
Adam al-Shami, a media activist from the nearby Tishreen neighborhood, feels similarly. “The current offers tend towards investment projects that turn the area into commercial towers, not a community recovery plan aimed at returning displaced residents,” he told Syria Direct.
“Any project that does not make the return of residents its first priority is a project that does not take our interests into account, and it will not be accepted regardless of the incentives,” al-Shami added.
In Tishreen, which sits between Barzeh and Qaboun, the problem is even more complicated. The neighborhood itself was informally built upon agricultural land, and most properties are held through “sale and purchase contracts [the weakest form of legal real estate ownership] or agricultural title deeds officially registered with the state,” al-Shami explained.
“The real estate situation is very complicated, with dozens of people and their heirs sharing ownership of some properties,” he added. For this reason, “people insist on not losing their properties or having them converted into shares or compensation that does not make up for part of their losses.”
Al-Shami’s family holds all the legal documents proving their right to the land where they own four residential and commercial properties in al-Qaboun and Tishreen. Three were completely destroyed during the war, while a fourth was partially damaged.
“We are not seeking an alternative residential area. We are holding on to our identity, which is tied to the neighborhood,” al-Shami explained. “The most appropriate option, for us, is to be given the necessary facilities and permits to rebuild our properties ourselves, or as part of an urban plan that preserves the same location without forced displacement or relocation to distant suburbs.”
Deputy Governor Dakak acknowledged that “disposition of real estate property is among the principles of personal freedom and the owners have the right to dispose of their properties in the way that suits them.” He said the governorate has “explained it is in the process of reviewing organizational plans in order to improve them and integrate neighboring areas,” adding that “organizing land in an urban manner will increase its real estate value.”
Such a plan can entail many legal risks, lawyer al-Qarfan explained. These include “the loss of individual control and the transformation of the property owner into a partner with an undefined spatial share who cannot build and sell freely.”
Al-Qarfan pointed to additional legal risks, including “the complexity of disposition and sale, and this being linked to prior approval or a weak secondary market,” as well as “gradual acquisition by large investors who buy shares from small owners, concentrating ownership and excluding the original population.”
Implementation of investment projects themselves “could be delayed, or the value of shares could change,” while “the frequency of disputes among partners inevitably makes managing ownership more difficult,” al-Qarfan added.
Pushed to sell?
“If the government proceeds with its current proposals, the people of Jobar and al-Qaboun will resort to the quickest solution, which is to sell their land,” Abdulhamid said.
“There is a sort of legal ambiguity and deliberate slowness in reconstruction by the governorate, and the aim of that is for the landowners and their heirs to get restless and sell or abandon their properties,” al-Shami said. “It is a battle to see who will break first—us, or the governorate and investors.”
“We are afraid our property, which is fixed by title deeds, will turn into undivided regulatory shares that could lose their real value as time passes and costs increase, or that planning schemes—like under Law 10 or Decree 66—could be imposed, with value differences or exorbitant licensing costs that the original residents cannot pay,” al-Shami said.
He accused the governorate of “playing games in favor of investors, by dividing real estate and offering different percentages of real estate or agricultural land, especially since the whole area has been leveled in a way that leaves no distinguishing features whatsoever.”
Already, the three neighborhoods are seeing widespread sales activity, and land and real estate prices have risen significantly since the Assad regime fell in December 2024. Still, “they remain cheaper than neighboring parts of Damascus that were not destroyed, where basic services and infrastructure are available,” one real estate dealer from Tishreen, who works both there and in al-Qaboun, told Syria Direct.
However, the selling “does not appear innocent or natural,” he added, asking not to be identified. Three other sources shared this sentiment. They accused traders and investors of pressuring people to sell their land, taking advantage of the environment of ambiguity, rumors and the governorate’s latest proposals.
Unlike Jobar, some neighborhoods in Tishreen and al-Qaboun—which were less destroyed—have seen some residents return and restore homes, the real estate dealer said.
The Damascus Governorate prohibits reconstruction or building in the three neighborhoods, especially al-Qaboun and Tishreen areas of unregulated construction.
Nevertheless, some families in al-Qaboun and Tishreen have rebuilt small housing units atop the ruins of their destroyed homes. “People are tired of this situation. We were displaced, our homes were destroyed and a lifetime of work was lost. We will not allow our rights to be lost again. Anyone rebuilding their home today is ready to die rather than let anyone demolish it again,” the real estate dealer said.
He accused Governor Marwan of playing a negative role, aligning with the interests of investors and negotiating on their behalf. “When the plan was presented to the local committees, he told them: If you don’t want this, we will take it to al-Qadam and al-Assali, in southern Damascus” as a way of pressuring them to accept, he said.
Property sales in the three neighborhoods move in tandem with news and rumors circulating on social media, governance expert Sharbaji said. Fueling this chaotic environment, “the heads of some municipalities post on social media, whenever they are visited by a foreign delegation or Syrian expatriates, that there are visits by delegations proposing investment projects, even though [the visitors] came to see the local reality,” he said. As a result, “prices may rise in one area and fall in another.”
“Syrian law distinguishes between a valid sale, made under the conditions of consent and [legal] capacity, and cases of injustice and exploitation. If it is established that there is a significant discrepancy in the price, coupled with exploitation of need or ignorance, the contract may be contested,” al-Qarfan said.
The law also distinguishes between “cases of coercion and fraud, but it is typically difficult to prove duress and exploitation,” the lawyer added. “Most such sales will remain legally valid, despite the lack of fairness.”
“Comparative systems [in other countries] allow the owners to be charged for the cost of infrastructure, subject to certain conditions—namely that the costs be limited, proportionate and yield a real benefit to the owner,” he said. “This becomes problematic when the costs are very high, imposed without choice and inevitably leave the owner unable to pay or forced to sell. In this case, it can be considered economic pressure leading to indirect expropriation.”
The legal issue surrounding redevelopment projects in eastern Damascus “does not lie with the principle of redevelopment, but with the extent to which it respects the essence of property rights. When ownership transforms from a specific real right into an unsecured investment share, and when an owner is compelled to participate in development models they cannot refuse, while being burdened with significant financial costs, this approaches indirect expropriation, even if carried out under the guise or urban planning,” al-Qarfan said.
“The lack of transparency and clarity regarding the regulatory outcome leads to distortions in the real estate market, as people sell under the pressure of fear and uncertainty,” he added. “While these transactions may be formally valid, they raise profound issues concerning fairness and the protection of property rights.”
Reconstructing or reshaping?
“Fair compensation is that which guarantees the replacement value of the property, enabling the owner to obtain an alternative dwelling with the same specifications and location, without additional financial burdens,” al-Shami said.
The activist called on the Damascus Governorate to “involve the local community in decisions, simplify procedures for return and restoration and ensure private property is safeguarded, as stipulated by the constitution.” Plans for reconstruction should “be a bridge towards return and stability, not an obstacle that entrenches alienation and displacement,” he added.
“When the former regime approved the expropriation law affecting Jobar, al-Qaboun, Barzeh and Assali, there was an uproar against it in our revolutionary media. The very people now in government considered it an unacceptable form of demographic change,” al-Shami said. “Today, we are surprised to find the same figures seeking to push through an investment framework that resembles the old expropriation law.”
“There is a line between legitimate planning and disguised expropriation,” al-Qarfan said. “Legitimate planning aims to achieve a public interest (regulation, roads, services), is temporary or limited in effect, does not cancel the essence of ownership and includes fair compensation when necessary.”
“Disguised expropriation,” meanwhile, “arises when property owners are forced into investment projects they do not want, their property is replaced with a share or stake without a real choice, a single investment model is imposed (through a company, developer or compulsory partnership) and compensation is either non-monetary or delayed for years,” the lawyer added.
“The state has the regulatory authority, but it cannot impose private investment on private property, except within very strict limits,” he said.
“Beautifying the capital should not come at the expense of our rights. Jobar is not for sale,” resident Muhammad Obeid concluded. “After our homes were destroyed and we were displaced for years, we were waiting to return and be compensated—not to lose out.”
This report was originally published in Arabic and translated into English by Mateo Nelson.
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