Benghazi 2050: Zaha Hadid Architects Unveils Libya Masterplan

Benghazi, the historic port city on Libya's Mediterranean coast, is looking toward 2050 with a new planning framework developed by a consortium including A&O TEC, Prior+Partners, Zaha Hadid Architects (ZHA), Homa, Buro Happold, Systematica and Fichtner. Conceived amid a period of urban growth, infrastructure investment and renewal, the masterplan sets out to coordinate future development while reconnecting the city with its waterfront, historic center and expanding neighborhoods. Rather than defining a single architectural intervention, the proposal combines a spatial vision with a digital platform intended to guide projects across the metropolitan area over the coming decades.

The Vision and Spatial Strategy begins with an analysis of Benghazi's existing character and collective memory, proposing an adaptable framework based on connection and restoration

• Linking the historic core and shoreline with residential neighborhoods and metropolitan centers via public transport and pedestrian routes.
• Accommodating future growth through new employment and knowledge districts.
• Integrating zones of nature to support water management and ecological diversity.

Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event

At the center of the proposal is the Benghazi 2050 Digital Planning Hub, conceived as a shared evidence base for understanding the city and testing its future development. The platform brings together information on existing urban, socioeconomic, environmental and infrastructural conditions within a common spatial interface. Its datasets range from Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and three-dimensional urban models to population and land-use information, transport networks, infrastructure, environmental resilience studies, ongoing developments and future planning scenarios.

This accumulated information provides the foundation for a dynamic digital twin of Benghazi. As new data is added, the system is intended to evolve alongside the city, allowing proposals to be considered in relation to their broader urban context rather than as isolated developments. In this sense, the Digital Planning Hub extends the spatial strategy beyond the format of a conventional static plan, creating a living environment for collaboration between authorities, local communities, planners, designers and investors.

Source: designboom