February 17, 2020

Nahariya to double in size

Globes, Guy Nardi, 17.02.2020

Israel's Northern District Planning and Building Committee today decided to adopt the policy document for the development of Nahariya over the next 20 years. The document examines how the northern coastal city can nearly double in size from 66,000 residents today to 120,000 by 2040 by developing internally with urban renewal projects for the older neighborhoods and abstaining from building on open spaces.

The plan even states that with appropriate statutory procedures and planning Nahariya could have a population of 200,000, more than triple its current size, through urban renewal and filling up empty spaces between buildings.

The document found a number of flaws with the current layout of the city. The city is split in half by Road 4, the city center is cut off from the seafront, the industrial zone is far from realizing its full potential and most critical of all, poor drainage means that 66% of the city is vulnerable to flooding.

The document recommends commencing urban renewal in the neighborhoods to the east of Road 4 - Givat Katznelson, Kiryat Yoseftal, Givat Ussishkin, Neve Yitzhak Rabin and Givat Sharet. These are public housing estates built in the 1950s and 1960s with poor maintenance and residents with a low socioeconomic profile. Development would be through increasing building rights, mixed use buildings and more east-west roads linking these neighborhoods to the city center and seafront.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on February 17, 2020