I’ve seen this 1923 map on a number of websites lately. It seems to have been posted a couple of years ago at Seif’s blog.
One of the most striking differences is the density. Back in the 1920’s, Beirut seemed to be more of a wide geographic area composed of different towns and districts.
But today the city is one constant metropolitan area:
source |
I suppose a lot of the lamenting of the “good old days” is based on the fact that there was more open spaces in the city and less people/problems to worry about.