The Beirut port explosion exposed deep-rooted urban inequalities and governance failure in 2020. Focusing on Mar Mikhaël, one of the most severely affected neighbourhoods, this article analyses post-disaster recovery through the lens of crisis urbanism and emergency governance. Drawing on a stratified field survey of 259 residents, it examines the material, social and psychological impacts of the blast, as well as the uneven reconstruction that followed. In the absence of a coordinated state response, recovery was led by NGOs, civil society and residents, producing a fragmented process shaped by disparities in aid, visibility and tenure. The article critiques dominant resilience discourse, arguing that in contexts of protracted crisis, resilience becomes a selective and exclusionary mechanism. Rather than redressing injustice, it risks reinforcing existing vulnerabilities. This study contributes to critical urban geography by linking everyday recovery practices to broader debates on governance, inequality and the political economy of disaster.
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