The travesty of residential towers in Jerusalem
Morality and politics bear an uneasy relationship. Most politicians push and scramble for self-advancement and position. Once elected, assuming they’re ignorant, they have the power to undo what has been done over centuries with great love and care, expense and labor, to waste and destroy. But as there is no private life which is not influenced by a wider public life and when the politician’s approach is entirely pragmatic, lacking any concern for social, individual and communal issues, this will surely lead to disaster. That is precisely what Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion has done.
Cocksure, Lion an accountant and economist, a laymen with no previous experience and education whatever in planning and building, has led the unprecedented hasty, thoughtless and massive urban development of the sacred and historic city of Jerusalem at accelerated speed, dangerous and clearly out of control. Residential density figures have been bloated to satisfy the insatiable greed of real-estate developers. Thousands of homes have been evacuated and razed, replaced by towers, the majority of which are poorly designed, without the least consideration for the physical and psychological impacts this will have on family life, children and the elderly, not to mention the severe traffic problems they engender. Many of the public housing projects destroyed, had they been renovated and added to at reasonable economic density, would in fact have been far better.
The pre-existing physical and natural environmental context of these tower projects has simply been ignored. It is not unusual to find thirty story towers close by historic two story buildings. So-called “Policy Plans” have often been substituted for statutory plans, thereby blocking any public involvement, a basic democratic right. Projects are approved on an individual basis barring any chance for unity and continuity. Needless to say, Lion and his cohorts haven’t any understanding of how viable communities are designed or of the importance of comprehensive three-dimensional plans, sustainable and long-range, considerate of future generations.
The problems described above are of course nationwide. Mayors are de facto the chief urban designers of their cities, I challenge readers to name a single one of Israel’s more than three hundred mayors who understands the complexities of planning and urban design. Little wonder the fact that the war has slowed down construction is seen by some as a blessing.
Urgently needed then is an educational strategy to help social, individual and communal bonding, leading us to understanding, from irresponsible opinion to responsible judgement, from chance to clarity and order.
Gerard Heumann – Architect and Urban Designer, Jerusalem
