Globes, Arik Mirowski   17.05.2021

Jerusalem is a "different chicken" when it comes to urban renewal. Unlike many cities, the municipality cultivates the area, and Mayor Moshe Leon actively encourages the area, ensuring that the municipality "will continue to assist and accelerate the construction of urban renewal projects, along with assistance provided to developers and residents, while increasing construction volume and housing supply." It". This is a remarkable trend, especially these days in terms of protection, since Jerusalem is also the least protected city in Israel(according to data from the Contractors Association).

This reference is different from most major cities, most of which are urban renewal characterized mainly by dragging feet, or deliberate thwarting. However, one of the most unique places in the city is the way in which TAMA 38 is seen there, and not just construction clearance projects. In contrast to other places and perhaps even the wind blowing from the Planning Administration, TAMA 38 is an important instrument in Jerusalem, and not just the municipality decided On the extension of the municipal plan determined on the basis of NOP 38, for another three years - a decision that needs the approval of the district committee.

Indeed, Jerusalem is included at the top of the table of NOP 38 in the country. The report of the Urban Renewal Authority shows that by 2020, building permits had been obtained in the city for 4,292 housing units in 236 buildings.

An impressive study conducted by the Jerusalem Institute for Policy Research shows that while in the country as a whole the program is declining, in the capital it is on a sharp rise: between 2018 and 2020, 536 projects were promoted that include an addition of 4,461 housing units. And it's a very high yield. Upon learning of the end of the NAP, there was considerable pressure in Jerusalem, which was reflected in the addition of 120 plumbing projects during the past year, compared with 88 projects entered during 2019 and 83 projects added in 2018.

The deputy head of the city planning department in the Jerusalem municipality, Sharon Schlossberg Dinur, explains that the NOP in Jerusalem has great advantages, precisely because of the features that entitle it to early morning and evening audits, and is the best tool for strengthening buildings and adding housing units in ultra-Orthodox and other neighborhoods.

Sharon Schlossberg Dinur / Photo: Private photo

"I do not think the situation is of 'either TAMA 38 or urban renewal'. We have a lot of urban renewal projects in the ultra-Orthodox sector as well. But these two should not live at each other's expense, but side by side, "she says.

Data from the Jerusalem Institute show that Ramat Eshkol is the leading neighborhood in the city in TAMA 38 initiatives from recent years, and that Geula and Mea Shearim and Makor Baruch neighborhoods occupy a place of honor at the top of the city. All are ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods.

"A neighborhood like Ramat Eshkol is at a level of 90% planning for NOP 38. I do not think it has a brother and a bad one. TAMA 38 dressed for this neighborhood both in terms of planning and culture. The conditions were the best in this neighborhood: it also runs the light rail line, and also because we never made extensions in this neighborhood. It was a neighborhood of the Ministry of Housing that was planned in the years. -70 and it was designed with very large public spaces, "she says.

In principle, Dinor Schlossberg says that TAMA 38 has gained great popularity among the ultra-Orthodox society in the city, because it is very easy to find economic feasibility for these projects, which sit on expensive land, and also because the original design is suitable for Jerusalem neighborhoods, which are very specific. A. 38, which is spotty in nature. A prominent example is the Ma'ar (Main Business Center) neighborhood in the north, which includes Mea Shearim, among others.

"We made a policy plan for the Ministry of Housing, where we doubled the number of housing units. Two-story buildings became five-story buildings. And since the land is expensive, they manage to connect with the developers within the framework of TAMA 38, upgrade themselves and also act according to the policy. "Parking, not to mention train lines, which will encircle these neighborhoods in the future.

One of the things we count today is a multiplier. And the multiplier in NOP 38 is low.
"Do you think I am entering Mea Shearim today and building a tower there? Not everywhere I am interested in reaching such a multiplier, what is more, Jerusalem is also a culturally complex city.
"The only thing that needs the final tightening is a programmatic matter. When I double a neighborhood today through TAMA 38 and not through TAMA, I can not give a solution of kindergartens and milk drops and it is still unresolved.

"To deal with this, we are moving in the direction of the Jerusalem Municipality, where all the brown areas (designated for public designations, EM) owned by the municipality will be inspected and it is possible that evacuation-construction will also be done on them, in order to streamline them as well. You will not see in the coming years that in a brown area there is only a kindergarten or just a drop of milk. You will see a mix of uses and additional rights. "

How does the ultra-Orthodox public accept this approach?
Schlossberg Dinur: "I do not currently refer to neither architects nor developers, but only to the public. He is happy, because he owes another room in the house. He has another child and he needs the room. succah. And the NOP, which transferred the proceedings faster and also transferred the financial responsibility from the private person, through connection to the entrepreneur, solved a problem. There are objections, as in every project there are objections on a private basis. I spend quite a bit in courts and appeals committees, "Principles, but something that meets them on a personal level."

We have extended TAMA 38 until 2025 only because of the decision of the National Council. If the council had said that we should extend until 2026, we would extend until then - it is not up to us. If we do not succeed in approving a plan by 2025, then we will not have a plan. Unless the government that is formed one day changes attitude.

"It's amazing what we went through here. We did not want TAMA 38, then we said, 'Well, we'll make our own plan by virtue of TAMA 38.' "He will close the door. This renewal also caused the apartment owners next to whom a TAMA 38 project was established, to renovate their homes and enter a renewal in the master plan. In other words, it did something for the neighborhoods."