Israel 2020
The Israel 2020 Plan was finished in 1997 and represents a new national initiative to salvage the inner-cities of Israel. It's associate plan, the National Master Plan (NMP 31) was created to deal with the approximately 700,000 Russian immigrants who have arrived in Israel since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1989. The three main goals of the Israel 2020 Plan are: economic efficiency, social well-being, and the improvement of the environment and maximum provision of open spaces. The plan does not represent a blueprint for land allocation in the cities, rather it is a set of policy guidlines and to direct further urban development in Israel.
In order to acheive these goals, the government has recognized Tel Aviv
as one of four main urban centers it wishes to intesify while preserving
all remaining agricultural and open space in the peripheries. This metropolitan
approach is drastically different than all earlier planning ideas which
placed arriving immigrants in "new towns"
outside the central city.
In focusing on stopping the sprawl of Tel Aviv, city planners want to encourage residential growth within the city. Most importantly, they are encouraging gentrification in old Tel Aviv. These buildings were mostly constructed in the 1930's and represent the city's most interesting architecture. This area has been deteriorating since the 1940's, but hopes are that new investment will turn the area into high-class residential land.
Planners also wish to vastly improve the provision of green space within
the city. The Port of Tel Aviv is not used on a grand industrial scale and
planners have seen an opportunity in developing the area in and around the
port and the Yarqon River as green space.
Also, the coast of the Mediterranean Sea is being improved to help the water quality and encourage entertainment functions along the water. Unfortunately, the Israel 2020 Plan does not intend to deal with the problems caused by industry along the coast. The Israeli government feels that it can't and should not try to control the placement of economic functions in the city. Instead, they are leaving this provision to the market economy.
Current Urban Structure in Tel Aviv
History of Urban Planning in Tel Aviv
The Port in northern Tel Aviv with new green space and improved water quality.
Tel Aviv's new Arts Center, with a view of the CBD in the background.