Suq Sabra is one of Beirut’s busiest street markets structured along a vibrant system of retail shows and vendors who informally appropriate the streets and the sidewalks. Within the market, electronic devices and CDs are sold next to the vegetable, fish, meat and poultry products. The Suq acts as an edge to a highly politicized landscape, subjected to territorial definitions dictated by influential parties and street-lords. In this context, CCECS and the multi-disciplinary teams at AUB partnered with the Hariri Foundation for Sustainable Human Development (HFSHD) and the street-market committee to implement phase 1 of a strategy for ‘upgrading from within’. This part of the project focused on developing elevated sidewalks, improving portable sheltered devides and creating more space for foot traffic to circulate the market.