About two months ago, a plan to build a 40-story tower in Jerusalem made headlines: a plan for the Epstein complex in Kiryat Yuval, which combines housing, hotels, commerce and public areas. The great media response following the publication of the plan – which was approved and recommended for deposit by the Jerusalem municipality, but is still before the stage of submitting objections to the district committee – illustrates how much the construction of a skyscraper is still perceived as an exciting event for city residents.
It seems that since the controversial Holyland project, no such lively public discourse has developed around a major construction project in Jerusalem – but this time it is not a one-off initiative that goes against all urban planning principles: the capital city is at a different point in time. Jerusalem’s “Burj Khalifa” is just one example of many planned species.
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“Jerusalem is a city that is developing at a good pace, and is very intensive,” says city engineer Yoel Even. “Our perception is that in order to develop and strengthen the city, it is necessary to invest in the construction of housing units, employment areas and other uses, so that these will support the development of the city.
“If today Kiryat Yuval, for example, is a neighborhood of 19 or 20 thousand residents, in 10 to 20 years it is expected to grow by another 6,000-7,000 housing units, which means adding another 25,000 new residents. To give them the answer they need, we We need not only new housing units, but also new public areas, and this is being done by increasing the height. “
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“Building a tower has a planning, aesthetic, social value”
The same tower planned in the west of the city will include 40 floors with 240 housing units, hotel areas, public buildings totaling 4,000 square meters and another 200 square meters for commercial areas. The city’s captains are aware of the criticisms and concerns of residents in the city, but claim: This is the best plan for Jerusalem, and specific to the area in which it will be established.
“This project is on the light rail route, and according to the light rail policy is supposed to contain two 18-story towers,” Even explains. “That is, if we did not change anything we would get two towers in the given area cell – a large and significant area cell in a central location – without any public space, which would actually ‘suffocate’ this compound, because the area they occupy on the ground is larger than a single tower.
Jerusalem City Engineer, Yoel Even / Photo: Eyal Yitzhar
“The alternative approved by the municipality is talking about one tall building, and next to it a very large public space that allows everyone to use it. The project is right ‘on’ the light rail, so residents and visitors can easily reach it, enjoy the view, significant public functions, hotel at the bottom and cultural uses “In the end, the public gets more out of this alternative.”
“The construction of a tower has a very great planning, aesthetic, social and useful value,” adds Sharon Mendelbaum, director of the Urban Strategic Business Development Department at the Jerusalem Municipality. “It is visually beautiful, it is efficient; it takes up one space cell and can concentrate a lot of functions in it. It allows for a quality of life, such as fresh air and daylight, advantages of dense, textured construction, many do not enjoy.
“A tower also allows residents to live in much greater proximity to toilets. This is the key to our perception today, and it is basically the foundation of urban life, as opposed to school life, where there are very large spaces and very low access to public toilets. “Each of the residents who live in them can easily access services, both public and commercial. The tower is a microcosm of this concept.”
“The public is slowly believing in towers”
Is the Jerusalem public simply having a hard time digesting the transition to high-rise construction, which is on display in the “Burj Khalifa” project?
Even: “Until today, the issue of high-rise construction was less relevant in Jerusalem, but the public is slowly believing in towers. The more such people are built and the more they understand their value, the better the interest will be with us. We do not know who the population that will reach the city is, and in urban renewal projects we do not know how the issue of the cost of maintenance in the new tower will be addressed.
“As part of this, we recently introduced in the urban renewal programs a policy under which entered into the economic calculation, under Standard 21 (which examines the economic feasibility of evacuation-construction projects), payment of 10 years of maintenance at the expense of the developer. The project, will pay for the first 10 years maintenance payments at a price they know from their previous place of residence.
“As for a specific Epstein complex, there is of course a public that opposes the plan, but just as there is a public that opposes it, there is a large public that supports it. In every matter there are opinions here and there. Jerusalem residents are unfamiliar with this plan. That is not the case: it is a plan that stems from right thinking, which has undergone very intense public participation, and I am sure we will do it right. “
“There is a limit to what one neighborhood can give”
Among the main opponents of the plan approved by the municipality in the Epstein complex is Ofer Berkovich, chairman of the “Awakening in Jerusalem” faction and a member of the city council and who ran in the last election against the current mayor, Moshe Leon. Berkowitz is also a member of the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee, where he proposed his own version of the complex – which was not accepted.
“In my opinion, not all the percentage of construction allowed on the site should be realized,” he says. “It was possible to make do with a 30-story tower, both because of the sensitivity to nearby national sites such as Yad Vashem and Mount Herzl, both because of the desire to preserve the natural wadi that leads to Ein Kerem and because of the huge loads on the Kiryat Yuval neighborhood.
“It is impossible to continue to increase construction in this area. There is a limit to what one neighborhood can give. The feeling is that there are no stops, shooting indiscriminately, and that there is a disconnect between the planning and what the residents feel in the city. We will build next to it, but here is something bigger: a kind of attack of planned projects in the neighborhood, which led to an entire struggle. We are in favor of urban renewal in Kiryat Yuval, but it can not be that all the power is concentrated there. Crazy construction. “
It should be noted that in a district hearing earlier this month, where it was decided to deposit on the terms of the plan approved by the municipality, Berkowitz also proposed increasing employment areas and cultural uses in the complex, “as an anchor that better serves residents,” but his proposal was rejected.
At the same hearing, the committee noted in favor of the 40-story tower version that “the plan in our case offers a different construction concept of concentrating building rights in a single building, in order to reduce the construction plan at street level, establish a wide public square and create a unique landmark on the site.
“The committee believes that the proposed construction and integration into the site’s skyline match the site’s qualities and the committee’s planning concept regarding the integration of high-rise construction in the city’s ridge lines,” the hearing said. “The change in the city’s skyline reflects its continued development and changes in planning and design trends over time and in accordance with current needs.
“The way to produce more construction: urban renewal”
The planning and approval procedures for the “Jerusalem Khalifa Suit” were widely reported, but not a private case – but the municipality’s current overall perception of high-rise construction: whether it will be carried out throughout the city, what is the approach to the ancient and historic areas ?
“The worldview regarding our height policy is divided into two parts,” Even explains. “The first part is the historic city, which we guard very closely. A person who comes to Jerusalem should know that he really came to Jerusalem, and its strength is in the area of the historic city.
“Nachlaot, Nahalat Shiva, Rehavia, the German Colony, Talbiyeh and more are historic conservation neighborhoods where we believe their strength is visibility, so there is a strict adherence to height according to accepted standards.
“The newer neighborhoods, built in the 1950s and 1960s, such as Kiryat Yuval, Ir Ganim, Kiryat Menachem, Katamonim VIII and IX, Gilo and more – these are neighborhoods that we are pushing to develop and strengthen, as well as replace the The infrastructure in them, and this we believe can be done effectively only through urban renewal: take the existing construction, produce new construction and refresh through the renewal.
“Both in the Old City and in the historic areas, we are promoting renewal projects, especially of the TMA 38 type, but we are careful that the construction does not break through the existing height frames.
“To produce such projects on the economic side, including the public areas derived from it, an increase in height is required. It is important to remember that in an urban renewal project, unlike a project in open areas, there are no additional areas beyond the areas that exist today.
Once we increase the number of existing apartments through urban renewal, we have a duty to create additional public areas from the projects themselves for the benefit of a population integration.
“In places where there was a restriction to only textured construction, for example in the ultra-Orthodox areas of the city such as the Romema neighborhood – we see the need for a real response to public spaces. There is a real shortage of public spaces, and see a direct relationship between lack of construction
Worldview: Efficient utilization of land
“Both urban renewal and the construction configurations we are promoting join a broad worldview of the whole of Jerusalem: once we optimize land use, which is known to be a limited resource, we should not use new open spaces,” Mendelbaum adds. “This allows for the use of built-up areas within the city, rather than turning to expansion into new, open and pristine areas.
“It basically allows us to take the built-up area of the city and rebuild it – more correctly, newer, more orderly, in a way that allows quality of life for residents. In this way we create a situation where every resident under the house will have commercial space, kindergarten, playgrounds and all “The things he is looking for and needs, a few meters from the house. This sometimes requires a concentration of living space in buildings that rise in height, when needed, so that next to them we can build the same public areas.”
“It is important to say that the increase in height does not necessarily lead to an increase in the number of housing units,” Even emphasizes. “The amount of housing units is determined at earlier stages of planning, and the question of how to do it right comes after determining the amount of housing units. We do not increase the scope of housing beyond what is required, but stick to what can be done according to planning.
“I also mention that Jerusalem has a light rail, an advanced means of transportation around which we have established a complete policy of elevation, a policy that allows to build construction intensity that the train itself can serve. We do not do it everywhere: in more sensitive areas we do not rise, and where possible We allow the increase in height to produce more correct urban planning. “
“This policy pushes for proper utilization of areas to which public transport allows very easy access,” Mandelbaum continues, Other and central building values in the planning framework. “
Evacuation-construction and elevation also in the east of the city
How are all these principles expressed on the eastern side of the city, in the Arab neighborhoods? “Even in the east of the city, we definitely want to carry out evacuation-construction, and even there construction will eventually be required for height,” Even declares. “In the past there were claims that Arab society does not know how to live in towers, and likes to live in traditional projects and traditional construction, but according to surveys we did this is not the case, and today Arab society also wants renewal in its neighborhoods.
“In the east of the city there is also an advantage, because the density is relatively low and therefore the construction multipliers can be applied and reasonable construction can be achieved, and this is the real horizon of the east of the city. .
“There are already several initiatives for urban renewal in this area of the city, I very much hope that we will succeed in them. In this area there are some unique challenges, which include the issue of land ownership, but I am sure in creative thinking we will succeed there, and Arab society will know how to accept it.” .
Epstein Complex, “The Burj Khalifa of Jerusalem”
Place: Between the neighborhoods of Kiryat Yuval and Ein Kerem
Area: 7 acres
Approved building rights: 1,200%
height: 40 floors
Construction area includes: 30 thousand square meters
Housing units: 240
Hotels: 7,840 sqm
Public Buildings: About 4,000 square meters
trade: 200 sqm
planning: Office of Adrian Smith and Gordon Gil