The Mayor's Office in Jerusalem says that plans for new
neighborhoods are at advanced stages. Such plans include
Antenna Hill in Bayit Vegan, where initial construction plans
have already been approved; 2,000 residential units on the
edge of Har Nof (a neighborhood to be named after HaRav Shach
zt'l); an additional 800 units in Ramat Shlomo; a plan
to build behind Givat Shaul's industrial zone; a plan to make
Sanhedria denser; and a plan to build a new neighborhood next
to Ramot. The addition of these thousands of units can make a
big difference in the city.
Architect David Tzvivek recently drafted a grandiose plan to
bring another one million chareidi residents into Jerusalem
through a project to make older chareidi neighborhoods in
central Jerusalem denser. However city officials claim the
plan may never be able to be carried out.
According to local weekly Yerushalayim, Tzvivek's plan
includes changes in old, rigid urban construction plans.
Tzvivek says numerous old structures--such as the stores on
Rechov Meah Shearim--should be demolished to make room for
apartment buildings. Tzvivek also proposes taking advantage
of unzoned spaces used as small workshops in Beit Yisrael,
Geulah, Zichron Moshe and other neighborhoods as well as
parking lots. According to Tzvivek's plan, procedures to
alter zoning and make plots available for construction should
be accelerated in order to bring another million chareidi
residents into the city within just a few years. The plans
are grandiose but seem exaggerated since it is not clear if
the entire chareidi population of Israel even reaches a
million.
In an interview with Yerushalayim Tzvivek said he
spoke with entrepreneurs and investors from Jewish
communities in the US and other parts of the world "and they
showed great interest in building in chareidi neighborhoods,
out of an awareness that demand in these areas is high."
Tzvivek added that he presented his plan primarily to
chareidi city officials and chareidi parties "but I know it
takes a long time before the wheels of the Jerusalem
bureaucracy start to turn."
The Mayor's Office says the idea in principle is positive,
but in order to implement it a wide range of aspects must be
assessed, adding that due to its complexity the plan cannot
be implemented within a short period of time. The primary
impediment is that many of the homes in these densely
constructed areas would have to be vacated, which requires
reaching agreements with the many heirs of the land.
Furthermore state preservation official would have plenty to
say regarding to plan to demolish old structures.
