AL-LUDD
LYDDA
LOD
Landscapes for the In-between City
לוד
LYDDA
اَﻟـْﻠ ُّْﺪ
AL-LUDD
LYDDA
LOD
L a n d s ca p e s f o r t h e In -b e tween City
Authors Oscar Broeckhoven Katrien Daeyaert Andreas Vanysacker Benjamin Van Gool
Thesis submitted to obtain the degree of Master of Engineering: Architecture 2016-2017
Promotors Ward Verbakel Bruno De Meulder Els Verbakel
Š Copyright KU Leuven Without written permission of the promotors and the authors it is forbidden to reproduce or adapt in any form or by any means any part of this publication. Requests for obtaining the right to reproduce or utilize parts of this publication should be addressed to Faculteit Ingenieurswetenschappen, Kasteelpark Arenberg 1 bus 2200, B-3001 Heverlee, +32-16-321350. A written permission of the promotor is also required to use the methods, products, schematics and programs described in this work for industrial or commercial use, and for submitting this publication in scientific contests. All images in this booklet are, unless credits are given, made or drawn by the authors (Studio Lod).
Master's thesis file Students:
Oscar Broeckhoven Katrien Daeyaert Andreas Vanysacker Benjamin Van Gool
Title:
Al-Ludd, Lydda, Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
Abstract: This thesis focusses on the city of Lod, located between the Jerusalem mountains and the Metropolitan Area of Tel Aviv. Lod, together with the cities of Haifa, Jaffa, Akko, Ramle, Nazareth-Illit and Ma’alot-Tarshiha, counts for an important part of the country’s Arab citizens. These contested cities are commonly referred to as ‘mixed’ cities in Israel. It should be noted that the term ‘mixed’ is highly problematic in this particular context as it implies coexistence whereas this is an expression merely based on population statistics. Today, as Arab population pressure rises, the social structure of Arab communities is changing and Israeli National Planning strongly limits possible urban expansion. Therefore alternative strategies and urban visions for the future development of this city are explored in individual research by design projects, in search of a new Levantine Urbanism. Thesis submitted to obtain the degree of Master of Engineering: Architecture Promotors: Ward Verbakel, Bruno De Meulder, Els Verbakel Readers: Guido Geenen (KU Leuven, WIT), Daniel Rauchwerger (OMA), Els Vervloesem (KU Leuven, AWB) Academiejaar 2016-2017
Table of contents 1 .............. Prelude 10 16 18 20
Microstories Some Figures Social Diversity and Fragmentation Existing Discourses and Research Aims
23 ............ Lod as a Regional Player 24 28 30 32 34 38 40 44 46
Overview Erased City Crossroads Railway Platform Commuter City Servant Space of Ben Gurion International Airport Satellite Affair Coastal Plain Ayalon Wadi
51 ............ Fieldwork & Impressions 54 56 68
Bottom-up Key Figures & Professionals Mental Map
71 ............ Writing the Palimpsest 76 80 84 88 92
The Orchards of al-Ludd The Mandate and the Railway City Disrupted City Hebraic City Return City
97 ............ A Strategy for the In-between City 98 100
Masterplan Lod The In-between City
105........... A Vacant Centre - by Andreas Vanysacker 108 112 120 122 124 126 130
A Desolate Landscape Built Fabric The Voids and The Public Sphere The Voids and The Market Place The Voids and The Tourist Scene The Khan el-Hilu The Inhabitable Wall
108 112 120 122 124 126 130 134 136 138 140 143
A Desolate Landscape Built Fabric The Voids and The Public Sphere The Voids and The Market Place The Voids and The Tourist Scene The Khan el-Hilu The Inhabitable Wall A Shaded Network A System of Antechambres A Vacant Centre A Mixed-use Development Epilogue
145........... Intermediate Nature - by Oscar Broeckhoven 146 150 156 158 160 162 168 170 172
Proposed Development for Akhisamakh Neighbourhood Water Issues Current Situation Proposed Development Counter Proposal 1. Servicing the Ecosystem: Water Filtration Systems 1. Servicing the Ecosystem: Vegetation 2. Defining the Edges 3. Introducing Public Space and Informal Appropriation
175 ........... Cycling the In-between Landscape - by Katrien Daeyaert 183 193 205
Lod and the Regional Bike Network Asphalt and Terrain Vague Landscape Strategy
224 .......... A Revalued City Entrance - by Benjamin Van Gool 228 230 236 240 242 244 246 250 252 254 256 258 262
A Deficient City Entrance Current Situation Proposed Development Counter Proposal From Island To City Connector A Flow-based Structure Defining the Volumetry A Mixed-use Development A Green Backbone 1. Bicycle Path & Walkways 2. Stormwater Harvesting 3. Indigenous Vegetation 4. A Platform For Urban Activities
264 .......... Literature 271 ......... Acknowledgements
Prelude The concept of ‘mixed’ cities in Israel is highly problematic as it proposes an image of coexistence that does not correspond with the reality in these cities. Definitions such as these from the Israel Bureau of Statistics are inadequate and need to be questioned. A series of microstories nuances these bureaucratic theorems and expresses the wide variety of narratives that such cities include. Therefore it redefines - in a bottom-up way - the concept of ‘mixed’ cities. Similar nuances can be found in the demographic distribution throughout the city underlying the social complexity of migration fluxes during history.
Microstories
Guy, Haifa
Prelude
Currently I’m working at the port. I handle those large cranes you see in the distance. I also have a small bar in Carmel Center that I’m managing with a friend. Probably you already saw my necklace, it represents the Israeli borders - including Gaza - and has the star of David in the middle. I’m a proud Jew, you know. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t have any Arab friends. On the contrary, I have a lot of them with whom I play soccer almost every week! As an inhabitant of Haifa I don’t have any problems with Arabs living here, in general Jews and Arabs get along quite well. In other cities such as Jerusalem or Akko there is much more tension and they live in separate neighbourhoods. I have to admit that after the Second Intifada something changed, we grew more suspicious. I remember more pleasant times, where one could visit the West Bank just to have some coffee, imagine.
10
I own a restaurant in the Turkish Bazaar in the Old City. Actually I don’t live here myself, but further up north in Nahariya. I’m half Jewish half Christian and politically I consider myself a progressive, left wing person. If you look at the situation in Akko, especially in the Old City, there’s definitely coexistence which is based on a form of mutual respect and tolerance. Yesterday a Muslim was murdered on the beach, in fact, he was a neighbour of mine. Therefore I don’t play music today, and on other occasions such as Ramadan I don’t serve alcohol. These expressions of mutual respect make daily life favourable. Although most of the Arabs in the Old City are considered poor, they feel relatively fine in Akko. It can be seen as a bubble where people manage to live their daily life without getting involved (too much) in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Moreover, most Arabs in the Old City do not want to work harder to improve their socio-economic status, they rather spend time with family and friends.
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
Bina, Akko
11
Shai, Nazareth-Illit
Prelude
I am a teacher at a Yeshiva school, we focus on religious Jewish texts and study the Torah. Jews and Arabs live in my neighbourhood, so some of my neighbours are Arabs but we are not friends. Actually I don’t like it that more and more of them are moving to Nazareth-Illit.
12
My name is A’idah, which means ‘the one who returns’ in Arabic. I work in the Community Center of the Old City that was funded by the American Embassy to promote the American way of life. Although most visitors are Arabs, Jews are also welcome but they prefer not to come. Here coexistence isn’t that great. I live up north in an apartment building that is considered to be mixed, nevertheless we get along quite well. Whenever an incident occurs, tensions among Arab and Jews run high. Racism is inside of you, even inside the people you think you get along with pretty well. One day I got racist comments on the mirror of the elevator of our apartment block. The Old City of Akko is being Judaized by offering Arabs reasonable prices for their ancient houses. Some are selling theirs so they can start a ‘better life’ somewhere else. Furthermore a lot of Jewish settlers from the West Bank have moved to the north-east of Akko. Although the police is prominent in our daily life, they tend to act in favour of Jews. For example, yesterday an Arab Muslim was shot at the beach, but it couldn’t really bother them. They don’t care about the Arab inhabitants, that’s maybe the best description of the attitude here.
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
Aidah, Akko
13
Shireen, Nazareth-Illit
Prelude
I live and work in Nazareth-Illit. My employer is the municipality and it is my task to visit people’s home to make sure that their house corresponds to the building regulations. Being a Christian Arab, I feel 100 % Israeli. Israel is my home. There are no Christian schools here, so I went to school in Nazareth and I still visit the city often. When I was little I was forced to go to a different school because my older brother joined the Israeli Defence Force. A few years ago I also decided to join the army. In the Arab schools they teach us that our land was taken and that this is actually Palestine, I think this idea only generates hate. Nazareth-Illit is a quite peaceful town. Once or twice we had some issues but they were political. You should contact Father Gabriel Naddaf, he is a Christian priest who thinks all Christian Arabs should be able to join the army!
14
I work in Lod as a physiotherapist. In my practice I treat Jewish and Arab patients. I studied in Germany for four years. My family is originally from Lod, we were living here before 1948. This is my family’s hamoula and next-door the hamoula’s of seven families have been destroyed for the construction of a highway to Tel-Aviv, you can see the debris everywhere. Until today construction has not been initiated and none of the families have received any kind of compensation. The municipality makes us live very close to each other, which results in tensions between neighbours. For example, a Jewish cemetery was constructed next to our hamoula’s to prevent residential expansion. In our hamoula two families occupy each floor, normally each family has its own floor. If my son wants to get married there is no spot left for him, he needs to find his own place. In different areas of the city they destroyed Arab houses for the construction of new Jewish housing estates. If people see you wandering around in their neighbourhood, taking pictures of houses, they might think you are from the municipality and looking to destroy more buildings.
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
Arafi, Lod
15
Some Figures
Approximately 75% of the Israeli population is Jewish and 21% is Arab. (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2013, p. 1) The Israeli Arabs are often referred to as Palestinian citizens of Israel. More than 80% of them are Muslim, 9% are Christian and 9% are Druze. (Central Bureau of Statistics, 2003, p 1) Only 10% of the Palestinian citizens live in ‘mixed’ cities, the others live in homogeneous Arab areas separated from Jews.
Lebanon Mediterranean Sea
Syria Nazareth-Illit
Akko Haifa Ma’alot-Tarshiha
“The Central Bureau of Statistics defines mixed cities as localities in which the decisive majority of the population is Jewish but which have a sizeable minority of Arab residents.” 1 (Inter Agency Task Force, 2014, p 1) In general this definition is applicable to seven cities. These cities can be categorised in three main groups based on their origin. A first category is the historical mixed city in which Jews and Arabs have been living together for many generations, including pre-Israel times. After the establishment of the Jewish State a new type of mixed cities emerged. These so called post-1948 mixed cities were originally grand Arab cities that were depopulated, colonised and inhabited by new Jewish immigrants. A relatively new phenomenon is the de-facto mixed city, which are Jewish cities built after 1948 in Arab territory. Due to lack of residential solutions and because Jewish inhabitants are leaving in search for a higher quality of life, Arabs are moving into these cities. (Yacobi, 2009)
Prelude
Nuancing the figures
16
Although this categorisation creates a clear overview of ‘mixed’ cities in Israel, it does not provide any knowledge on the degree of coexistence, segregation and conflict. Wondering how the Israeli Central Bureau of Statistics’ mathematical definition materialises in an urban phenomenon and which social dynamics play in reality, we visited Haifa, Akko, Nazareth-Illit, Jaffa, Ramle and Lod (see photographs pp. 10-15). Intensive walks were undertaken which often led to encounters and interviews with inhabitants. The reality proved, of course, more complex and versatile than this given definition. It cannot be generalised in one comprehensive definition. The result is summarised in the series of memorable microstories on pp 16-21. It should be noted that the term ‘mixed’ cities used further in this dissertation refers to the statistical population distribution rather than being an expression of the degree of coexistence in these cities.
Jaffa Lod Ramle
Egypt
Jordan
international recognised border border of territory occupied by Israel sea
1 The Central Bureau of Statistics is an Israeli governmental organisation. Map based on Google Maps (2016). Demographic data of cities on p.23 based on Inter Agency Task Force factsheet w(2014)
population
ethnicity (%)
80,2
5,0
5,6
9,2
Haifa
65,2
20,3
8,7
5,8
Jaffa
67,1
25,3
2,4
5,2
Akko
68,3
17,1
7,2
7,4
Lod
74,6
16,4
4,7
4,3
Ramle
69,7
7,6
10,1
12,6
Nazareth-Illit
69,9
9,2
10,3
12,5
Ma’alot-Tarshiha
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
municipal area
17
Social Diversity and Fragmentation
As in many other ‘mixed cities’ Lod has been subject of demographic engineering and diverse migration influxes after 1948. Strolling around the city and having conversations on the streets exposed the multitude and diversity of Lod’s Jewish and Arab communities. During the Ottoman Empire and British Mandatory Palestine many Jews were already making Aliyah3 to the Land of Israel4. In 1948, when the State of Israel was established, Jewish communities from all over the world immigrated.5 Simultaneously, most of the Palestinian towns and cities were destroyed during the War of Independence and inhabitants were forced to leave. An event also referred to as al-Nakba6, that caused a dispersion of Palestinians comparable to the Jewish diaspora. Entire families and communities fled to Gaza, the West Bank and neighbouring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, others were able to stay. Eventually a few found (and are still finding) their way back in by work permits, marriage, human trafficking etc.
fig 1.1
Jews making Aliyah.
fig 1.2
Palestinian exodus from al-Ludd.
Fragments The demographic map highlights the various ethnic and cultural fragments. Essential differences exist between Jews and Arabs but also among Arabs and Jews themselves because of their origin or their role in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For example, in Neve Yarak ‘collaborators’ were settled by the authorities, these are Arabs from Gaza who cooperated with Israeli authorities and are identified as betrayers. Also, Rakevet and Neve Shalom are home to Bedouin Arabs7 from the Negev (southern part of Israel) which differ on certain cultural matters from Bedouin living in Pardes Shanir, who originate from the Sharon region (just north of Tel Aviv). Ganey Aviv is almost exclusively inhabited by former USSR Jews, while Ramat Eshkol is inhabited by Ethiopian and Mizrahi Jews8 and the south-west by Orthodox Jews.
Prelude
Problems
18
All of this leads to a fragile social environment where tensions can easily run high. Lod is known as one of the most problematic cities characterised by high crime rates (drug dealing, illegal constructions). It is often stated that the Arab inhabitants are the problem, hereby influencing public opinion, but reality is more complicated. In this context urban interventions must be planned carefully and well advised.
3 Making Aliyah means Jews immigrating from the diaspora to the Land of Israel. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/aliyah) 4 Land of Israel or Eretz Israel. 5 Due to expulsions and religious persecutions Jews have been immigrating to the Land of Israel for centuries. The first Zionist Jews came in 1882, nowadays they are still making Aliyah. Zionism was founded by Theodor Herzl and is a nationalist movement that promotes a Jewish homeland in Palestine, otherwise known as Eretz Israel. (Motyl, 2000) 6 Al-Nakba or Palestinian exodus. 7 Bedouin Arabs are Muslims. 8 Mizrahi Jews descend from Jewish communities in the Middle East and North Africa which are often countries with a Muslim majority. Ethnicity map on p. 25 based on .shape files received from Lod municipality on 18.09.2015 and on descriptions in Yacobi,2009
Europe
USSR Sharon
Ganey Aviv Neve Yarak
Pardes Shanir
Neve Shalom
Old City Warda
Rakevet
Ramat Eshkol
Middle East
North America
Negev
North Africa
Ethiopia
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
Gaza
christian arabs jews christian christian christian christian arabs arabs arabs christian arabs arabs arabs jews jews jews jews jewsformer jews muslim arabs USSR Jews Ethiopian Jews Bedouin Arabs Muslim Arabs Christian Arabs Arabs from before 1948 Jews muslim muslim muslim arabs muslim arabs arabs arabs muslim arabschristian arabs pre-1948 arabs former USSR jews pre-1948 pre-1948 pre-1948 pre-1948 pre-1948 arabs arabs arabs pre-1948 arabs arabs arabs former former former USSR former USSR USSR USSR jews former USSR jews jews jews USSR jews jews bedouin arabs ethiopian jews bedouin bedouin bedouin bedouin arabs bedouin arabs arabs arabs bedouin arabsmuslim arabs ethiopian ethiopian ethiopian ethiopian ethiopian jews jews jews ethiopian jews jews jews arabs collaborator collaborator collaborator collaborator collaborator collaborator arabs arabs collaborator arabs arabs arabs Lod arabs collaborators municipal border 0
250
500 m
N
19
Existing Discourses and Research Aims
Prelude
The search for a suitable definition to describe the complex social reality of ‘mixed’ cities has been the subject of multiple academic studies from all over the world such as Yiftachel (1998), Yacobi (2009), Monterescu & Rabinowitz (2007), Bollens (2000) and Verbakel (2013). After studying a selection of terminologies we came across in these dissertations, we argue that the term ‘mixed’ city does not cover the overall situation in these cities as it implies a condition of coexistence, whereas in reality “inhabitants belonging to different ethnic and religious backgrounds live in varying degrees of co-existence but also very much of segregation and conflict.” (Verbakel, 2013, p. 2) Thus calling Lod a ‘mixed’ city is not only deceiving but also highly problematic since it suggests a harmonious mixture and leads to believe there is no conflict whatsoever.
20
Rabinowitz and Monterescu define a mixed town as: “a consciousness- based proximity whereby individuals and groups on both sides share elements of identity, symbolic traits and cultural markers which signify the mixed town as a shared locus of memory, affiliation and self identification.” (Monterescu & Rabinowitz, 2007, p. 3). Of course there are a handful of shared centralities in Lod, characterised by their vital urban functions. Examples are the Grand Canyon1, the market square, the train station area, the Chicago Community centre etc.. It should be noted that often these spaces are time-shared. The market square is at one time appropriated by the Muslim community to celebrate for example Eid-al-Fitr2 and at another time by the Jewish community to celebrate one of the many Jewish holidays. However none of these shared socio-spatial configurations stroke with the definition of Monterescu & Rabinowitz, because the shared elements of identification,symbolism and memory are missing.
Then should we call Lod a divided city or even a partitioned or a polarized one? The term ‘divided’ “[...]conjures [...] images of separation walls, barbed wire, and police patrols. [Low, 1996] They evoke barriers of race, religion, and nationality, encoded in dualistic metaphors of East and West, uptown and downtown, and northside and southside. Represented by archetypes such as Jerusalem, Nicosia, Berlin, or Belfast, these towns predominantly reproduce formal discrimination through differential entitlement to citizenship and planning rights.” (Monterescu & Rabinowitz, 2008, p. 217) In certain areas of Lod a clear mental and spatial division exists between the Arab and Jewish communities. The clearest manifestation of this division being the wall that separates Pardes Shanir from the neighbouring moshav Nir Tzvi.3 Train and automobile infrastructures function as barriers that cut off neighbourhoods, demonstrating how planning instruments can be utilised as a mechanism of control over minority groups. Even more extreme is the term polarized cities, who “host alternative and directly opposing cultures that are contestable. Such conflicts are ethnonational wherein one group seeks autonomy or separation. In such a circumstance, a strong minority of the urban population may reject urban and societal institutions, making consensus regarding political power sharing impossible.” (Bollens, 2000, , p. 10). Such a polarized urban environment can result in partitioned cities “in which the goal of eliminating ethnic differences is pursued.” (Bollens, 2000, p. 12) While polarisation and partitioning are definitely part of the urban and territorrial condition as generated by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the case of Lod is not as extreme as for example Jerusalem, making these definitions unsuitable to describe the entireness of its’ urban condition.
The urbanism that is practised in Lod is often (in subtle but also in blunt ways) driven by ethnocratic ideologies such as population engineering, dispersal and marginalisation of Arab neighbourhoods, obliteration and neglecting of the indigenous fabric etc.. These ideologies are implemented through planning instruments such as infrastructure projects, mass public housing projects, unfair land use policies ... In a city with this complex a mixture of ethnicities and an urban landscape that was erased and rewritten several times in the last century, there is an urgent need to explore alternative strategies and urban visions for the future development of the city of Lod. What kind of urbanism could allow for these diverse ethnic groups to live apart together and deal with its turbulent past (and present)? By a common research body and individual design projects this thesis is in search for a new Levantine Urbanism.
1 A Grand Canyon is a general term used in Israel for big shopping malls, meaning literary ‘Grand Mall’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Grand_Canyon_(mall)) 2 Eid-al-Fitr is the ‘festival of breaking of the fast’ (Elias, 1999), marking the end of Ramadan. 3 More on this on p. 116 in chapter ‘Writing the Palimpsest’ 4 Haim Yacobi and Oren Yiftachel define an ethnocratic city as the following: ““The ethnocratic city is classified and represented as ‘mixed’, but dominated by one ethnonational group; urban citizenship is unequal, with resources and services allocated on the basis of ethnicity, not residency.” (Yiftachel & Yacobi, 2003)
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
Together with the cities of Haifa, Akko, Jaffa, Ramle and Nazareth-Illit, the city of Lod counts for an important part of the Arab citizens inhabiting cities within the borders of the Israeli ‘green line’ (established after the armistice of 1949). Today, as Arab population pressure rises, the social structure of Arab communities is changing and Israeli National Planning strongly limits possible urban expansion of these Arab areas. The urbanisation of (former) Arab cities is characterised by the ‘trauma’ of the establishment of the Israeli state in 1948 (referred to as al-Nakba by the Palestinians). Based on vernacular urban patterns and suk‐based urban structures, in which the family pattern of the Arab ‘hamula’ (clan) has greatly influenced the dense historical fabric. Many of these cities were further traumatised by Israeli planning instruments clearing historic areas to be replaced with mass housing and infrastructure projects.
21
Lod as a Regional Player If we go beyond the definition of the Central Bureau of Statistics, Lod is a great many of things besides a ‘mixed’ city. Together with Ramle, Lod is a conglomerate city closely intertwined with the industries and infrastructures of Ben Gurion National Airport and the Israeli Railways. It is sitting on the crossroads of an infrastructure network that is key to the Central District, yet it is not taking much advantage of it nowadays. Lod has always been an important player in its region, although it can not compete with Jerusalem or Tel Aviv on a matter of scale and influence. This chapter gives an overview of which roles Lod assumes as a node in the regional framework and identifies their effects on the city.
Lod as a Regional Player
Overview
24
a
b
c
d
as an erased city
as a crossroads
as a railway platform
as a servant space of the airport
f
g
h
as a commuter city
in a satellite affair
on the edge of the Coastal Plain
in the Ayalon Wadi
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
e
25
26
Lod as a Regional Player
0 km
5 km
10 km
Aerial photograph showing Lod on a regional scale. This photo is used as a base map for all the maps of this chapter.
N
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
fig 2.1
27
Erased City destroyed city ( >3000 inhabitants) destroyed village ( <3000 inhabitants) refugee route separation wall greenline Jewish state according to the 1947 UN partition plan city of Jerusalem according to the 1947 UN partition plan Jaffa
municipal boundary of Lod
Lod as a Regional Player
In July 1948 the city of al-Ludd (now Lod), designated by the UN partition plan of 1947 as part of the Arab state, was almost completely destroyed by IDF troops as part of Operation Dani. Along with the destruction of the city came the expulsion of their inhabitants. It is said that the expulsion of Lydda’s and Ramle’s population accounted for one tenth of the total Palestinian exodus during the 1948 war. In total 50000-70000 people were forced to leave their homes and flee towards the east, while only 1000 people were allowed to stay in Lydda. (Morris, 1986) The refugees first walked to Beit Nabala and Barfiliya, after which they were picked up by Arab legionnaires and brought to Ramallah. From here they spread out over Jordan, Lebanon, Gaza and the Upper Galilee. (Morris, 2008)
28
The then-inflicted havoc is still heavily present in Lod’s old city center, leaving empty plains and neglected ruins as silent witnesses and effectuating a fragmented city fabric. source: Aparicio, E. B. (2015, March). The Nakba Map. Zochrot. Retrieved from http://zochrot.org/en/article/54772 UN Ad Hoc Committee. (1947, November 25). Palestine Plan of Partition. UN. Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/ga/search/view_doc. asp?symbol=A/RES/181(II).
0 km
5 km
10 km
Barfiliya
N
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
Beit Nabala
Ramle Ramallah
29
Crossroads railway road ancient trade route international airport separation wall greenline
Tel Aviv/Jaffa
checkpoint urban tissue municipal boundary of Lod
Lod as a Regional Player
Lod is situated at the crossroads of different important infrastructures. Highway 6 runs from north to south, while Highway 1 runs from east to west connecting Tel Aviv with Jerusalem. Furthermore the railway station holds an important position, serving lines to Ashdod, Be’er Sheva, Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. This feature of Lod has been an important catalyst for the city for a long time. Even in ancient times Lod occupied an important place on the Joppa - Jerusalem road and served as a hub on the eastern branch of the renowned ‘Via Maris’. (Van Donzel, 1994) This was the main trade route in the Levant, linking Cairo with Damascus and Mesopotamia. The eastern branch was supposed to be a safer and thus more frequently used alternative for the coastal route. (Bosworth et al., 1983)
30
Although Lod has always taken advantage of its strategical position in the past, nowadays this is not the case. The infrastructural lines cut the city into pieces and leave scars in the tissue while the city has almost no direct benefit.
Ashdod
Caïro
source: Encyclopaedia Biblica. (1903). Trade Routes in Palestine & Phoenicia. Retrieved from https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6f/C%2BB-Trade-Map2-PalestineTradeRoutes.JPG
Be’er S 0 km
5 km
10 km
Jerusalem
Sheva
N
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
Damascus
Highway 6
Highway 1
Via Maris
31
Railway Platform passenger & freight railway freight railway Ottoman & British Mandate railway planned railway separation wall greenline industry urban tissue
Jaffa
international airport planned railway building railway building station municipal boundary of Lod
Lod as a Regional Player
Lod is an important node in the network of the Israel Railways. It is home to the largest train depot, and will soon be the epicenter of the railway administration. Ever since the inauguration of the railway in Lod in 1892, Lod became an increasingly important node in the Middle East. During the British Mandate â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Lydda Junctionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; connected Lod with Jaffa, Jerusalem, Cairo and Damascus. (Bosworth et al., 1983)
32
Nowadays the city has a schizophrenic relation with the railway. On the one hand the accessibility and planned administration offices bring the promise of new jobs, inhabitants and economical development while on the other hand the infrastructure cuts the city in half, separating a large part of the Arab inhabitants from the rest of the city, and creates dangerous living circumstances in other neighbourhoods.
source: Regional map of past and present railway lines. (2012, September 13). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_Railways#/media/File:Israeli-Palestinian_Railways.svg
Cairo 0 km
5 km
10 km
Jerusalem
N
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
Damascus
33
Commuter City railway road fastlane separation wall greenline checkpoint university industry zone urban tissue international airport 30 minutes within reach by car 30 minutes within reach by public transport park & ride municipal boundary of Lod
Lod as a Regional Player
Due to its central location and cheap land prices, Lod is a perfect location for commuters. Big urban centers are easily accessible through car and public transport. For this reason, young, high educated people are starting to settle in Lod. Even students from all over the country and different universities choose Lod as a cheap housing alternative to Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and Be’er Sheva. The shown travel times by car do not take traffic jams into account. As Israel, and especially the Tel Aviv area, is dealing with a high congestion rate of the roads some new ideas are implemented. One of these ideas is ‘the fast lane’. This is an extra section of Highway 1, free to use for public transport and cars with four or more passengers. The route is accompanied by ‘park and ride’ spaces to encourage carpooling incentives.
34
In contrast to the hard infrastructure lines and although Lod is located only 20 kilometers from Tel Aviv, there are no bike lanes or pedestrian paths leading to Lod, making it nearly impossible to commute through cycling. source: Isochronous Application V0.8. (n.d.). Retrieved 26 July 2016, from http://cartoo.dyndns.org/ Mapnificent - Dynamic Public Transport Travel Time Maps. (n.d.). Retrieved 26 July 2016, from http://www.mapnificent.net/ 0 km
5 km
10 km
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
N
35
Lod as a Regional Player
fig 2.2
36
Ben Gurion International Airport, Ayalon river and national railway that pass through Lod.
Highway 1 connecting Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, east and west.
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
fig 2.3
37
Servant Space of Ben Gurion International Airport airport
Sde Dov Airport
flight route taxi route railway road urban tissue separation wall greenline checkpoint municipal boundary of Lod
Lod as a Regional Player
Ben Gurion International Airport is located just south of Lod. Thanks to its proximity the northern industrial area of Lod houses several companies that serve the airport. These companies range from freight forwarding and distribution to car rentals and taxi shuttles. Hadar Taxi for instance is based in Lod and is the only taxi service working at the airport, even for pickups from Tel Aviv and Jerusalem to the airport they offer the best rate. Another â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;servantâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; space is the Airport City, right next to Ben Gurion, which is characterised by similar services apart from commercial activities, meeting rooms and event spaces. The first airstrip in Lod was built in 1934 by the British, while the whole complex was completed in 1937. (Bosworth et al., 1983) International flights operate on Ben Gurion International Airport, local flights operate on Sde Dov Airport north of Tel Aviv.
38
Apart from the industry zone in the north, the rest of the city does not profit by the presence of the airport. One could argue that more can be done with the economical incentives and Lod should try to attract other programs such as airport hotels and event spaces. Then again it is hard to compete with Tel Aviv and the actual Airport City on this matter. source: Flightradar24.com - Live flight tracker! (n.d.). Retrieved 26 July 2016, from https://www.flightradar24.com/32.01,34.89/10
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Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
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Satellite Affair railway road urban tissue international airport greenline separation wall
Tel Aviv
checkpoint municipal boundary of Lod extended sphere of influence
Lod as a Regional Player
direct sphere of influence
40
Lod finds itself in between the two biggest urban areas of Israel. On the west it is influenced by Tel Avivâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s metropolitan area Ben Gurion National Airport and can be seen - to a certain extent - as a satellite city. Although the distance is larger, the same can be said for Jerusalem on the east. Influences of these metropolitan areas materialise in different aspects: stallholders coming from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to sell their goods on the Lod market, inhabitants of Lod commuting to both spheres, â&#x20AC;Ś The Ganey Aviv neighborhood was even marketed as a suburb of Tel Aviv. On the other hand, Lod and Ramle are surrounded by (former) agricultural cooperative settlements, moshavim, that can also be seen as satellites of these cities. The inhabitants of these moshavim are mostly wealthy, high educated people and the occasional farmer. They use Lod as a base for small supplies, doctor visits and schools. Aiming on the moshavim inhabitants and taking advantage of the nearby urban nodes could attract a new group of people to Lod. Young families that are willing to shift aside the turbulent history and participate in activities and programs that generate added value.
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Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
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Ramle
41
Coastal Plain agricultural field
Mediterranean Sea
river, wadi water reservoir, treatment ponds separation wall greenline municipal boundary of Lod topographic lines
Lod as a Regional Player
The Coastal Plain is a horizontal alluvial plain in between the Mediterranean Sea to the east and the Judean Hills to the west. In the Judean Hills there are two main drainage directions, one to the Mediterranean Sea and one to the Jordan River that runs to the Dead Sea in the south. Ages of soil sedimentation and erosion have left the area fertile and resulted in cultivation. The separation barrier between Israel and the occupied West Bank is more or less located on the transition between the the Coastal Plain and Judean Hills. Both areas are cultivated but there are cultural and economic differences. For example, Palestinian rural villages cultivate the surrounding land for olive and citrus trees. It is a Palestinian tradition to harvest and process the olives with family and relatives. On the other hand, in Israel agriculture is a highly developed sector consisting of two main structures: moshav and kibbutz. Both are cooperative agricultural communities with slightly different ethics. They produce vegetables, flowers, field crops, fruits and citrus for own consumption and export. Due tot the semi-arid climate and water scarcity they try to grow and cultivate with as little water as possible. In recent years farm holders have been reorganising and searching for other ways to provide for income, hereby jeopardising farmland and empty land. When large areas of farmland lose meaning for surrounding communities they are an easy prey for urban developments.These developments disregard existing ecosystems far too often, something (industrial scale) farming can do as well.
44
Lying on the edge of the Coastal Plain, Lod used to be an agricultural town. Nowadays the agriculture has left the city for the surrounding moshavim. The places where moshavim and city meet could prove to be interesting spaces for the development of urban farming or parkfarms. 0 km
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Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
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45
Ayalon Wadi urban tissue green field forest
Yarkon River
agricultural field park water reservoir river, wadi
Ayalon River
separation wall greenline municipal boundary of Lod topographic lines
Lod as a Regional Player
The Ayalon wadi counts numerous infrastructure lines running from north to south and from east to west. In the Judean Hills, east of Lod, a fine-grained network of wadis1 slowly forms the Ayalon River. After curving downhill the Coastal Plain is reached, smaller networks of tributaries merge and the river sets direction for the metropolitan area of Tel Aviv. For a long time the valley was dominated by a rural landscape. Nowadays, in the context of capitalistic growth economy and population growth, urbanisation is rapidly transforming the landscape. Vegetation is removed and soils become erodible. Forests and agricultural fields are replaced by a multitude of asphalt roads, parking lots and urban sprawl. Studies show a strong relationship between these land-cover changes (vegetation removal, urbanisation) on the one hand and an increase in rainfall runoff volumes and peak discharges on the other. (Noa Ohana-Levi et al., 2015) These reoccurring phenomena ensure that the Ayalon Valley is becoming less and less capable of fulfilling its ecological function, navigating water from high to low grounds, resulting in severe flooding (in Tel Aviv for example). Both river and rural, permeable and non built areas in the Ayalon Valley are part of a valuable, indispensable ecosystem.
46
This is also the case in Lod. The relationship with the river is close to non-existent although several parks linked with rivers throughout the region have proved to be successful public spaces. The challenge for future developments exists in the idea of working with nature, not against it. 1 A wadi is mostly empty in the dry season, however, when it rains it holds large amounts of water.
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Lod as a Regional Player
fig 2.6
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Ayalon river passes through Lod and carries water from the Judean Hills and Coastal Plain towards Tel Aviv, to the Mediterranean Sea.
Surrounding landscape characterised by moshavim: sheds, cattle and agricultural fields.
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
fig 2.7
49
Fieldwork & Impressions Having laid out Lodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social complexity as well as its importance in the regional framework, there is one essential map missing. An immersion in the context of the city during two months of fieldwork helped us to come to a more personal mental image of Lod. Various techniques were employed to draw our personal mental map such as impressions by strolling through the city while photographing and a questionnaire that gave us insights in the behaviour of the inhabitants and the social dynamics at play. Finally a meeting with key figures and professionals who are involved in the city in various ways revealed to us ongoing and future projects and actual methods of doing urban planning. The outcome of this chapter is a map that can be taken out and serve the reader as a guide.
“most central in Israel, yet furthest away from civilisation” — inhabitant of Lod on 04.10.2015
“diamond covered with dust” — in pdf document received from Lod municipality on 18.09.2015
“Israel's garbage can”
Fieldwork & Impressions
— iataskforce factsheet on mixed cities in Israel (2014)
52
“a warm and embracing population that is comprised of a fascinating cultural mosaic” — Yair Revivo, mayor of Lod in a promotional video about Lod on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QTLoMCjVRY
“Israel's version of murder city” — headline of an article on The Globe and Mail, can be found here: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/ lod-israels-version-of-murder-city/article7449176/
“Lod is on the runway to the future” — in a promotional video about Lod on youtube: https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QTLoMCjVRY
“people say it's the wild west here” “Lod has been Israel's shameful backyard” — tv presenter in a youtube video about Lod: https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=-11PescN9fE
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
— Rivka Abelson in an interview during our fieldwork on 10.10.2015
53
Bottom-up
Walking, Talking and Photographing To get a first intuitive impression of the urban structure and physical appearance of the city and its inhabitants we printed an aerial photo, divided it in eight parts and split up in duoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. Each duo explored one part in one day and pointed out their route on a map. After walking, talking and photographing we made several observations. Lod is covered in asphalt (fig 15.19 and 15.20), has debris (fig 15.15 and 15.16) of teared-down houses lying everywhere and buildings are often secluded (fig 15.17 and 15.18)) by concrete, brick walls, metal sheets, fences and hedges. Furthermore, the city is cut into pieces (fig 15.21 and 15.22) by infrastructure lines (roads, highway, railway), is fragmented into different cultural and ethnic neighbourhoods and has an abundance of terrain vague (fig 15.23 and 15.24).
Fieldwork & Impressions
Questionnaires
54
In search of a better understanding of the city from the perspective of its inhabitants a questionnaire was established - both in Hebrew and Arabic. Some basic multiple choice questions gave insight in where peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daily lifes take place (dwell, work, school, leisure, â&#x20AC;Ś). Then the interviewee was asked to indicate on a map: (1) the city centre of Lod - according to him/her. (2) the limits of his/her neighbourhood. (3) the centre of his/her neighbourhood. We do not pretend to have a complete understanding of what living in Lod means nor can we draw any statistical conclusions but this kind of research gives insight in the mental image of some city-dwellers and the dynamics in and between different neighbourhoods or enclaves. The questionnaire turned out to be a useful tool to get in contact with locals, as well as to get invited into more private spheres for coffee or tea, to have a talk (in French, German, English or whatever we could manage) about the daily life in Lod or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
fig 3.1 An aerial photo we used to navigate through the city and mark our route.
fig 3.2 city.
The questionnaire we used to get a better understanding of the
A talk with Arafiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s son (cfr. microstory of Arafi).
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
fig 3.3
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Key Figures & Professionals
In addition to the above mentioned street-work, we met some key figures whose interests ranged from local community building and urban planning to generating development budgets on a national scale. The questions we asked them aimed to find out which actors they deal with, which problems they are confronted with and what their visions or projects for the future are.
Fieldwork & Impressions
Laliv Sendner is the executive director of the Lod Foundation, an organisation that “builds bridges between the city’s Arab and Jewish communities, initiates and implements programs for the development of the city.” (‘Lod Community Foundation | IATask Force’, n.d.) She introduced us to Faten Alzenati who runs the only Arab-Jewish community centre in the city. This community centre is a perfect example of ‘living apart together’: Jews and Arabs each use the space for certain days in the week but never occupy the building at the same time. These meetings made clear that several organisations are currently trying to overcome the persistent neglection of the Old City, issues between Arab and Jewish communities, women’s rights and health issues.
56
Next we met with Rivka Abelson who works for the cabinet of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. She unfolded her six-year investment plan and explained how she coordinates developments with the municipality. Specifically, she provided a budget of 30 million shekels (≈ 7 million euro) to invest in infrastructure and legalise illegally1 built Arab housing. During our interview she described Lod as “the Wild West” where envisioning mixing is too idealistic. By investing in infrastructure, public services and other facilities she aims to level the quality of life for both Jews and Arabs. The city architect Ram pointed out something we already noticed during our fieldwork, he said: “The city’s biggest problem is roads and railways cutting it into pieces.”. Next he showed us numerous ongoing and planned development projects. Eventually it seemed that there is no lack of ambition, rather years of political instability have made it extremely challenging to substantialize goals. These meetings made clear that investing in infrastructure is a priority for both the municipality and the Israeli government. Although the infrastructure dominates the cityscape, most of it has not been renewed since the 1960’s. Moreover, investments in infrastructure, public services and facilities have not been equally distributed over Jewish and Arab communities.
fig 3.4 A document of 221 pages that outlines the urbanistic vision of the municipality.
1 Illegal is a term used by the Israeli government. To a certain extent the term is biased because residential solutions for Arabs are not provided so they resort to other methods. In other cases, when Arabs apply for a building permit to expand their house due to natural growth, they do not get it.
A meeting with the city architect Ram in the town hall of Lod.
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
fig 3.5
57
Fieldwork & Impressions
fig 3.6
58
A huge pile of debris (left) originates from demolished Arab housing and other construction works.
Arafi’s son explaining how the seven hamoula’s of his neighbours were destroyed for a highway to Tel Aviv that never came.
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
fig 3.7
59
Fieldwork & Impressions
fig 3.8
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A house secluded by a metal sheet.
A secluded olive orchard of Arab inhabitants.
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
fig 3.9
61
Fieldwork & Impressions
fig 3.10
62
An asphalt surface at the Ganey Aviv train station.
An asphalt surface in the southern industry zone between Lod and Ramla.
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
fig 3.11
63
Fieldwork & Impressions
fig 3.12
64
Railway tracks between two neighbourhoods.
fig 3.13
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
A main road between two neighbourhoods.
65
Fieldwork & Impressions
fig 3.14
66
The khan was once a focal point of the old city of Lod, now it has been deliberately neglected by the municipality.
fig 3.15
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
A terrain vague in Ramat Eshkol.
67
Mental Map
Fieldwork & Impressions
In conclusion of this chapter a mental map based on our own reading of the city is offered. The drawing serves as a reference document which can be used throughout this booklet to understand the neighbourhood’s locations, relations and characteristics.
68
As seen in the mental map we experienced Lod as a amalgam of self-focused enclaves who are at the same time - unequally - connected as well as separated by a network of infrastructure. Most enclaves are inhabited by a specific ethnic majority with its own cultural background and identity. The segregation of the neighbourhoods is often also voluntary, following a ‘ce qui se ressemble s’assemble’ logic. Every neighbourhood has its own landmarks and centralities and can function almost autonomously. However there are some centralities with more vital urban functions that make people step out of their neighbourhood bubbles. Examples are the city hall area ( cfr. new city centre), the old city centre, the train station area, the mall etc... Nonetheless Lod still can be seen as a collection of introvert islands, which came to being after a sequence profound events that will be discussed in the next chapter.
69
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
Writing the Palimpsest As seen in the mental map and fieldwork observations, the city of Lod can be read as a an amalgam of self focused enclaves and fragments separated by strong mental or physical borders. The neighbourhood fragments as well as the mechanisms of separation seem to be planned wearing blinkers, entirely following their own logic and -sometimes willingly- ignoring the adjacent urban and ecological structures. These fragments are embedded in leftover or intermediate spaces in which the remnants of different periods are still clearly visible. In an attempt to clarify this hodgepodge of layers we choose to read the city according to characteristics, aligned in the historiographic order of their first appearance. In the following maps these characteristics show an overview of the emergence of the fragments, the steady hybridization or contamination of the landscape and the transformation of the commons. Take note: these maps represent themes rather then strict moments in time and thus operate simultaneously over different time periods.
Writing the Palimpsest
The Palimpsest
72
a
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the orchards of al-ludd
the mandate and the railway city
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Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
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Writing the Palimpsest
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Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
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The Orchards of al-Ludd “Ludd is a flourishing village of some two thousand inhabitants, embosomed in groves of olive, fig, pomegranate, mulberry, palm, sycamore, and other trees, and surrounded every way by a very fertile neighborhood. […] Rarely have I beheld a rural scene more delightful than this presented [...]“ (Thomson, 1880, p.106)
The Palestinian city of al-Ludd1 was surrounded by a vast landscape of agricultural plots and orchards, with mainly olive and citrus cultivation. This productive landscape was the main reason of existence for al-Ludd, which served as a local market town. The city was centrally located on major trade routes in north-south as well as in east-west directions. It served as an intensive platform for trade and commerce as early as 1870 (Cook’s Tourists’ Handbook, 1876). According to Yacobi (2009), The dense triangular shaped urban core combined activities of commerce and manufacture to the dwelling environment as described by religious law. During this period, the emphasis lay on the land and its cultivation. Outside of this dense core the city had already expanded westward and southward. Mainly Christian Arabs dwelled in these neighbourhoods, composed by orderly plots with walled gardens. (Yacobi, 2009) A Symbolic Landscape
Writing the Palimpsest
Although plot structures were clearly readable and ownership was assigned to them, the use of certain reoccurring elements extended the landscape to a common. As described by Abufarha (2008), all these elements contain a certain symbolism. Firstly there is the saber (cactus or prickly pear) which acted as a metaphor for community living. Used to demarcate the borders of the orchards, they functioned at the same time as a protection fence. The saber were not privately owned but could be harvested by the community. However, the communal ownership ends at the border of the village, prohibiting neighbouring villages from eating each others fruits. Another element is the olive tree, which was always harvested by the extended family and friends and the orange tree, a symbol of Palestinian fruit. These trees are seen as a symbol of community as well. In the period before the British Mandate the productive landscape assured a tight connection between the rural and the urban. Abufarha (2008, p348) explains: “The urban attachment to the fruit is evident in the ritual of going to the main roads of town to buy saber by the buckets first thing in the morning, because it is best eaten cool. It requires one to go early to the market and meet the farmers face to face. Unlike other fruit or produce, which are sold by retailers, the fruit that are best cool and freshly picked like saber, teen (figs), or tout (mulberries) are sold by the villagers themselves, who pick them and bring them to the city. This interaction provides a special connection between the urban and rural communities. Through this exchange, the urban dwellers feel their connection to the land.” It has to be noted that even earlier back in time al-Ludd and even the entire Ayalon valley were exposed to the mercy of the Bedouin roaming the region. From their point of view (rejecting all kind of privatisation) the landscape and everything in it can be seen as commons.
76
Today, almost nothing of the old city core remains. Some monuments such as the khan2 El-Hilu, a few olive factories, two mosques and the Church of Saint George are the only remnants of what al-Ludd used to look like. The Christian quarter can still be distinguished, now hosting commercial activities around Palmakh square. If one looks at today’s cityscape chunks of the original landscape persist in the form of orchards or terrain vague with some remaining olive trees. Inside the new Arab neighbourhoods some elements of this former landscape reappear. Many of the Arrab families manage their own orchards and livestock, bringing productivity back into the city.
fig 4.1
orange tree.
fig 4.2
saber
fig 4.3
olive tree
1 al-Ludd, Ludd, al-Lydda, Lydd and Lydda are all names used to describe the former Palestinian city that is now known as Lod. 2 A khan or caravanserai is a building constructed out of an inner void surrounded by open arcades. The khan is mainly described as the place where caravans stayed overnight. But it means literally “the house of the army” or “camp”. This indicates that their original function involved a greater meaning. (Khosravi, 2014) maps on pp. 84-85 based on map and aerial photo of Lydda in the 30’s from The Survey of Israel, Goverment agency for Mapping, Geodesy, Cadastre and Geoinformatics.
view towards al-Ludd 1890.
fig 4.5
built fabric in al-Ludd around 1912.
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
fig 4.4
77
Writing the Palimpsest 78
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Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
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The Mandate and the Railway City “About the landscape of Lod… it was poor, quite poor; one-floor houses, maybe two floors. There was a hint of a public garden and it was very miserable … the only interesting buildings were the church and the mosque” - Interview with Otto Polcheck3, May 18, 2001 (Yacobi, 2009, p 18) While the first railway tracks were already built under Ottoman reign, it was the expansion during the British Mandate that made ‘Lydda Junction’ into the important railway node it is today. With the improvement and expansion of the Ottoman rail infrastructure coincided major spatial transformations that had a significant effect on the city’s urban landscape, the impact remaining visible until today. The railway and road infrastructure intersected and divided the existing plot structure in an attempt to create “a pattern of ordered plots, blocks and road, with olive groves and agricultural landscape around them.” (Yacobi, 2009, p 24) The productivity of the orchards however went on as usual and even grew, with the new railway connection boosting export and trade. ‘Lydda Junction’ (the new railway settlement) was located two kilometres southwest of the core of the old city and isolated by a circle of new rail tracks. The urban scheme was a typical example of British colonial design, shaped by planning principles of the garden city such as health, light and air, as well as by a set of social and aesthetic norms. Apart from the British workers only a few Jewish and Arab-Christian families lived in the new neighbourhood. The Roots of Division When talking about the Lydda Junction settlement, Yacobi (2009) brings up terms as ‘colonial utopia’ and ‘racial segregation’, due to the fact that non-British families needed to follow strict behavioural rules and were prohibited from entering leisure zones such as the tennis courts and the club house. This settlement can be seen as the start of the fragmentation of the city tissue, with ethnic segregation as its incentive. Or as Yacobi (2002, p 172) argues ‘[…]the roots of this division had already appeared during the British Mandate period in Palestine in general, and in the city of Lydda […] in particular.’ Nowadays the railway body is a major separation barrier isolating the enclave on the west side of the city as well all as one of the biggest economic incentives. The construction of the new headquarters of the Israel Railway Company is supposed to bring new jobs and economic activity into the city. However, a major part of the Arab population of Lod still has not come to terms with the railway body and its spatial implications. While the Neve Shalom, Pardes Shanir and Rakevet neighborhoods have no safe railway crossing, the former north-western quarter is split into two by the tracks. When taking into account that the Arab population seldom uses the train, one must admit that for them it is a heavy burden to bear.
Writing the Palimpsest
A New Urban Scheme
80
The establishment of Lydda Junction was not the only urban change initiated during the Mandate. When several parts of the old city were demolished during an earthquake in 1927, architect Otto Polcheck implemented a new urban scheme in an attempt to provide new housing and improve sanitation and infrastructure. Following the same principles as mentioned in the first paragraph, the city expanded towards the south and the north. Even the tissue of the old city was adapted; a new and wider road carved its way trough the dense core. (Yacobi, 2009) The implementation of this scheme created a fabric that was in no way resemblant of the old city and laid the foundation of the incoherent and scattered tissue that is witnessed today.
fig 4.6
lydda junction, 1918
fig 4.7 railway crossing in Neve Shalom where hundreds of schoolkids pass everyday without a safe crossing 3 Otto Polcheck was a British architect and planner. This quote shows the typical view of the colonists, treating the indiginous elements as inferior. (Yacobi, 2009) maps on pp. 88-89 based on aerial photo of Lydda in 1942 from The Survey of Israel, Goverment agency for Mapping, Geodesy, Cadastre and Geoinformatics.
the railway cutting trough the tissue of an Arab neighbourhood.
fig 4.9
aerial view of al-Ludd, 1932.
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
fig 4.8
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Writing the Palimpsest 82
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Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
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83
Disrupted City “By evening, approximately thirty-five thousand Palestinian Arabs had left Lydda in a long column, marching past the Ben Shemen youth village and disappearing into the east. Zionism had obliterated the city of Lydda.” (Shavit, 2013) 4
Demolition and Occupation Although under the British Mandate a substantial amount of houses was demolished already, it was in 1948 that the real destruction took place. Israeli armed Forces occupied the city, which was to be part of an Arab state according to the 1947 UNGA5. In ‘operation Dani’, initiated by the Israeli forces, 250 Palestinians were killed, and about 20,000 inhabitants escaped or were forced to leave the city. Since railway workers were needed 1030 Palestinians were allowed to stay (Yacobi, 2009), albeit in an urban panopticon6. A different ideology and new power relations reshaped the urban meaning and form of Lydda, which was renamed after its biblical source: Lod. Simultaneously with the acts of expulsion, there were massive acts of demolition of the built area by the Israeli army. This often occurred under direct governmental commands, and sometimes as a result of an army initiative. Furthermore several stories are told about a massacre in the Dahmash mosque, describing how Palmakh7 troops fired an anti-tank shell into the mosque where civilians were gathered, killing 250 of them. (Gelber, 2001) However Alon Kadish and Avraham Sela (2005) state that there is no direct evidence supporting these claims. Until now, the mosque is still the place where pro-Palestine demonstrations occur. Traces of this urbicide are still visible today- heaps of debris, ruined monuments and open areas in the old city centre being silent witnesses of this violent history. However, a total demolition of the Palestinian fabric was not realistic. The flow of Jewish immigrants demanded a housing stock, and the intentions of some Palestinian refugees to return to their homes required an active reaction in the form of settling Jewish agents in the abandoned Arab houses. (Yacobi, 2009).
Writing the Palimpsest
An Empty Centre
84
With the erasure of the dense fabric of the old city, wasteland and terrain vague was generated where the centre of the city used to be. Until today there is uncertainty about the treatment of the ruined monuments that are still standing, resulting in large informal empty spaces. Masterplans describing a densification of the area and formalisation of the empty spaces are bound to fail due to the symbolism attached to it. In this map the residual spaces as present today in the old city centre come into being. Littered with garbage and allowing informal appropriation they are the real commons of the city as opposed to the formal squares - linked to control and the Israeli institutions. The events that occurred during that time still resonate in today’s landscape and daily life. Even now the demolitions continue. Arab houses deemed ‘illegal’ by the authorities because they are built on agriculture land, are demolished on a regular basis. On the other hand, the destroyed fabric around the Saint George Church has been renovated to accommodate tourism.
fig 4.10
the Palestinian exodus
fig 4.11 little store in a leftover Palestinian building 4 Quote by Ari Shavit, journalist of The New Yorker who calls Lod ‘the black box of Zionism’. (Shavit, 2013) 5 “The General Assembly (GA) is the main deliberative, policymaking and representative organ of the UN. Decisions on important questions, such as those on peace and security, admission of new members and budgetary matters, require a two-thirds majority. Decisions on other questions are by simple majority.” (‘General Assembly of the United Nations’, n.d.) 6 Arab inhabitants were gathered inside an area circumnavigated by barbed wire. (Yacobi, 2009) 7 The Palmakh troops were an elite unit of the Jewish military. maps on pp. 92-93 based on aerial photo of Lydda after 1948 from The Survey of Israel, Goverment agency for Mapping, Geodesy, Cadastre and Geoinformatics.
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
fig 4.12 the empty streetscape in the Old City Centre
fig 4.13 aftermath of the destruction of the city centre, 1948
85
Writing the Palimpsest 86
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Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
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Hebraic City 8 “…[Lod] has changed from a neglected and undeveloped Arab city into a city of 16,000 [ Jewish] inhabitants… Lod, with its clean streets and plantings and its organized management... is a living example of the dynamic power of the Jewish people” -Lod Municipal Report, 1952. (Yacobi, 2002, p.62)
Modernism as a Tool for Judaization The deliberate transformation of al-Ludd from a Palestinian city into a Hebraic city initiated in the first years following the establishment of the Israeli State. In this light several masterplans were developed throughout the years in which there was no ambition to restore any of the indigenous fabric. The existing Arab urban space was represented as backward, unhygienic and underdeveloped. Under the pretence of modernisation, hygiene and newness the spatial colonisation of Lod was established. Modernist planning principles such as zoning, public open spaces and efficient transportation systems were used as a tool to realise this colonisation and demonstrated total estrangement to the existing Arab landscape. The modernistic attitude proved compatible with the ideology of the Jewish settler society. (Yacobi, 2009) Until today modern planning principles are utilised as a mechanism of control and oppression of the Arab minority in Lod. What Yiftachel (1995) describes as the territorial dimension of planning policies 9 can be clearly read in the spatial layout of Lod. The location of new modern neighbourhoods for big groups of Jewish immigrants are strategically chosen, to prevent further growth of adjacent Arab neighbourhoods. One of the most striking examples of this kind of policy making is the Ganei Aviv neighbourhood in the north-west of the city. The administrative borders of the city were expanded and land use was changed in order to facilitate the implementation of a housing tower neighbourhood for former Soviet immigrants. This allowed the local authorities to ‘balance’ the demographics of the city, in favour of de-Arabisation. (Yacobi, 2009)
Writing the Palimpsest
masterplan Lod 1000, 1979
fig 4.15
typical modernist housing slab
In this period productivity found a new meaning. Where the agricultural production used to be vital for the city before, now the large industrial zones became the main centres of productivity. With this the implementation of large infrastructures came along in the form of highways, infrastructure junctions, broader streets and increasing asphalt covering. The way of dealing with the agricultural landscape changed according to this modern mentality shift. The river was no longer perceived as a natural ecosystem, but as a resource that needs to be quantified and regulated. Freshwater resources were piped and from now on the wadi served only as a drainage system for runoff water due to the increasing impermeable surfaces constituting the city. The productive function was taken over by surrounding moshavim.10 As a result the agriculture plots lost the communal dimension they had during the Arabic period.
8 hebraic - “of, relating to, or characteristic of the Hebrews or their language or culture.” (merriam-webster.com, accessed on 23 may 2016) 9 “The territorial dimension is defined as the spatial and land use content of plans and policies. This may include the location of settlements, neighbourhoods, industries, communal and social facilities, infrastructure services, and employment centres. It also includes the demarcation of administrative boundaries, [...].” (Yiftachel, 1995, p.220) 10 moshav, plural moshavim - “a cooperative settlement of small individual farms in Israel.” (merriam-webster.com, accessed on 23 may 2016)
In spite of the active efforts that were undertaken to plan a coherent modern city, on what was perceived as terra nullius, this map shows the abundance of residual spaces that was generated in the process. Littered with garbage and allowing informal appropriation they are the real commons of the city today - as opposed to the formally planned squares and parks that are barely used by the inhabitants.
maps on pp. 98-99 based on aerial photos of Lod in the ‘50s and ‘60s from The Survey of Israel, Goverment agency for Mapping, Geodesy, Cadastre and Geoinformatics. as well as an aerial photo of 2015 from google maps
A Shift in the Productive Landscape
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fig 4.14
the Kardan housing blocks, with its towers and parking paradise.
fig 4.17
Oil factory in Lodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s northern industrial zone.
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Return City “[…] My point is that there are no planning initiatives for Arabs in Lod. Maybe it is our luck, since if there was some degree of planning, we would not be able to rise against it, and the authorities could claim that they plan for us… This total withdrawal, this total ignoring of our needs motivates us.” - Interview with Aref Muhareb, November 4, 2000. (Yacobi, 2002, p.61)
Spontaneous Settlements From the 1950s on, Lod’s urban landscape starts to change drastically by an influx of different Arab population groups. In addition to a small number of Palestinians that was allowed to stay in Lod during the military occupation, some internally displaced refugees from a couple of towns in the region managed to settle in Lod, by a policy in which their confiscated land was compensated. These families inhabit the Pardes Shanir neighbourhood in the south-west of the city. Although most of the spontaneous settlements in Lod are considered illegal by the local authorities because the structures are built on state owned land, the Pardes Shanir dwellings are the only ones where people actually do own their land. Nevertheless they are still considered illegal because of expansions on agricultural land. During the 1960s a wave of Bedouin from the Negev were settled in Lod, with the purpose of integrating them as cheap labour in the economy. Most of them were housed in the existing dwellings in the Rakevet area. However, because none of these dwellings were equipped to suit the lifestyle of the Bedouin, a lot of informal adjustments were made, in order to preserve their non-urban lifestyle and their cultural and civic needs (covered stairs for the women, cattle adjacent to the house, etc). (Yacobi, 2009)
Writing the Palimpsest
Secluded City
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The heterogeneity of ethnic groups and communities in Lod leads to all kinds of social and political tensions. This manifests itself among other things in the ubiquitousness of the wall. There are different motives for seclusion by walls and fences. An enclave can be isolated by a force that can be external or internal to them, passively or actively. Between being locked in or withdrawn into yourself there is a substantial difference: it distinguishes a camp from a luxury residence. (Petti, 2007) One has to note that for the situation in Lod, there is more nuance to it. The wall is also omnipresent inside the spontaneous settlements - securing the family domain from outsiders in order for women not to be seen from the public sphere. Of course one can hardly talk of luxury residences in this case. The best example of isolation by an external force is the wall that separates Pardes Shanir from the neighbouring moshav Nir Tzvi. A committee of inhabitants of Nir Zvi demanded the erection of a four meter high acoustic wall. The then elected Mayor refused this, arguing “This is not Berlin, and no one is supposed to construct a wall between two settlements.” (Arieh Bibi, Lod’s Mayor in Globes, December 30, 2000). In 2002 the wall was constructed anyway by government decision, declaring the situation in Lod as a state of emergency. Although officially the wall was promoted as a sound barrier it is in fact a clear form of ghettoisation. This example is tangible evidence of the widespread phenomenon of exclusion of Arab citizens in secluded ghettos. Another phenomenon is the secluding of neighbourhoods by infrastructure barriers. In ‘the Mandate and the Railway city’ we already explained how this is true for the rail infrastructure, but also in the planning and implementation of highways and big roads often there is a hidden agenda that results in cutting off certain residential areas from others.
fig 4.18 camels and other cattle are kept near the residential zones maps on pp. 102-103 based on aerial photos of Lod in the ‘50s and ‘60s from The Survey of Israel, Goverment agency for Mapping, Geodesy, Cadastre and Geoinformatics. as well as an aerial photo of 2015 from google maps
self-constructed dwellings in the Rakevet neighbourhood
fig 4.20
the “acoustic” wall between Nir Tzvi and the informal Arab neighbourhood Pardes Shanir.
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A Strategy for the In-between City The ambitions of the existing masterplan are elucidated and critized. A global strategy that seeks to oppose the ongoing urbanistic trends is distilled from this criticism. The multi-layered urban fabric in Lod, as explained in the previous chapter, is particulary present in the in-between spaces of the city, which are threatened to ebb by future development projects. To support this counter strategy three projects are presented, all trying to safeguard these underestimated urban areas from different perspectives.
Masterplan Lod
After nearly a decade of political instability and the resulting standstill in urban development, the city has renewed ambition to strengthen its central position in the region. In January 2014 the Planning Department of Lod drew up a comprehensive masterplan for the future of the city. One of the main priorities is to extend and to rehabilitate some of the outdated infrastructures. In addition to this reinforced mobility, the city aims to increase its population number by constructing large new housing blocks for young families and by providing new dwelling solution for the spontaneously developed neighbourhoods. To create agreeable living conditions new green spaces will be constructed on multiple locations in the city. Nonetheless they often lack appropiate design ideas and scale considerations.
fig 5.1 fig 5.1 City.
An axonometric view of the densification plans for the Old
Although the overall intentions are exemplary, the implementation of the masterplan seems problematic, because it is merely a continuation of what they have been doing in the past decades. The planned densification is done without any respect for the existing layers of the palimpsest.The masterplan does not acknowledge and in some cases even ignores the ecological and social structures of the city. Solutions to urgent problems are offered but in the meantime they also generate multiple new obstacles and challenges. Examples
A Strategy for the Inbetween City
To attract new visitors the city aims to re-establish the Old City through densifying and renovating the existing building structures.
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The investment in new infrastructure and parking space enlarges the area of asphalt, causing the green areas to further disappear and generating increased floading risk by rainfall runoff water. Many of the existing and planned parks lack decent shading. Consequently these facilities are only used in the evening when temperatures are bearable. Moreover all the playgrounds are designed exactly the same way, not adressing the conditions and needs of the direct environment..
fig 5.2 An axonometric view of the planned city park surrounded by new housing towers.
fig 5.3
municipal park planned
riverbank park planned
neighbourhood park
A map highlighting the planned zoning principles focussing on the green areas of the city .
inner neighbourhood park
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The In-between City In our opinion the future scenario brought forward by the masterplan would not be a valid strategy for the polycentric urban landscape that is Lod. The monotone densification enforces a generic way of living that tries to annihilate the existing diversities and even could invigorate the conflict in some areas. Therefore our design proposal departs from the acceptance of this segregated urban pattern of islands and see it as part of the complex dynamics of the city. Segregation, often understood negatively as interrupting the livelihoods of people, could in this case allow coexistence. It perpetuates flow and enables distinct modes of living and diverse groups of people to occupy the same space. Rather than filling the inner city voids, our ambition is to safeguard these in-between spaces and revalue their role in the urban fabric. In these highly underestimated areas the different layers of the palimpsest are still the most present and there the actual commons of the city can be found. Furthermore these in-between spaces have the capacity to contribute to the city as a whole, while adressing specific local conditions and problems. Being the less restricted areas of the city, these left-over spaces allow various informal practices. They are the locus of experiments where public interest is favored over purely commercial purposes. The strategy we propose will function as a handhold where all sorts of bottom-up initiatives can sprout. Starting from different perspectives four projects will illustrate how these in-between spaces can be used as a new type of development for the city. Projects In the first project - A Vacant Centre - the voids in the fabric of the old city centre are rediscovered and appreciated. By doing so a new way of densification is proposed that works with the inherent qualities of the area.
A Strategy for the In-between City
In the second project - Intermediate Nature - an in-between space next to the wadi is revalued. Essentially it creates a hybrid of public space and ecosystem services that is indispensable to the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social and ecological dynamics.
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A third project - Cycling the In-between Landscape takes advantage of the regional bike highway agenda to transform a series of disregarded terrain vagues into a slow backbone for the city. Bicycle path and landscape interventions work together as a mediator between the diverse neighbourhood fragments. In the fourth project - A Revalued City Entrance - an alternative masterplan for the train station area is proposed. By developing the area as a connector rather than the self-focussed enclave that it is today, the project aims to reintroduce the area in todayâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s urban context.
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A Strategy for the In-between City
[3] Cycling the In-between Landscape
[1] A Vacant Centre
[4] A Revalued City Entrance
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A Vacant Centre The old city centre of Lod is a pars pro toto of the in-between city. Buildings are spread out over the palimpsest of the former Ottoman fabric, without a relation to their context. However, the voids in-between these blocks have created a new kind of public sphere. Here, at the backside of the city, citizens can go about their business without being confronted with their â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;othernessâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. These places occupy an important role in the daily life but are also the target of new developments and city regeneration. In this chapter I will propose an urban scheme for one of these voids that attempts to safeguard its inherent qualities instead of building it to pieces. by Andreas Vanysacker
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The old city centre of Lod, officially called the Ramat Eshkol area, is one of the most ethnically diverse neighbourhoods of Lod. It is home to some eight thousand people, of whom 70% Arab and 30% Jew. Here the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Disrupted Cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; layer of the palimpsest is the most prominent. This area has been subjected to heavy demolitions in 1947, and scars of these acts are still visible. This turbulent past can be seen in the built fabric, an amalgam of Ottoman remains, modernist housing machines and spontaneous housing, but also in the unbuilt fabric. Essential to the understanding of the urban tissue is the vast amount of empty spaces, that - though they do not seem too valuable at first sight and are the result of drastic demolition and repression acts - constitute a public sphere where various activities come and go. A sphere where short cuts and impromptu parking spots find their place together with different markets and leisure spots. Many of these activities have a temporal character. For instance, the khan is now an archaeological excavation site where the schools of the neighbourhood come to join in in the process but can also be a cultural hub in the future. Furthermore it is host to a bi-monthly night market. These backside conditions create opportunities for inhabitants to flee society and to engage in their daily life in an unbiased environment.
fig 6.1
The historic core of Lod, pre-1948.
fig 6.2 fig 6.3
What is left of the city centre of Lod in 1950. > Aerial photograph of the old city area.
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Built Fabric
The fragmented tissue is made up out of a commercial axis, scattered facilities and housing. The housing schemes can be roughly divided into three categories: pre1948 buildings, modernist blocks and housing that was developed in an unplanned and spontaneous manner. While the spontaneous and pre-1948 houses are mainly occupied by Arab inhabitants, the housing blocks are often mixed. These buildings lack neighbourly relations and social control between Arab and Jews and suffer from the non-existence of private outdoor space. Furthermore, these buildings were not tailored to the (cultural) needs of their inhabitants. All of this is resulting in a hostile living environment, where no one takes care of the shared spaces such as the ground floor, often littered with garbage.
A Vacant Centre
The commercial axis covers Herzog Street and the nearby market square. The adjacent buildings were traditionally on the outskirts of the dense city core but are now in what the inhabitants call â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;the old city centreâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Nowadays they incorporate restaurants, grocery and food stores but also other commercial functions such as clothing stores and car dealerships. These activities occupy the ground floor while the floors above are used for housing. The street parallel to the axis is where the production happens. Here buildings occupy functions such as furniture ateliers or bicycle shops.
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Lastly, the facilities such as schools, community centres and religious centres are spread throughout the area. Each of them is focused on one group of the population, except for the Chicago Community Centre. Here Jews and Arabs time-share the building, each occupying the building on different days. To secure this separation most of these facilities are closed of from the rest of the city by walls or fences, contributing nothing to the public space.
> Locations of mentioned subjects.
Pre 1948 housing - modernist housing - spontaneous housing
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Facilities - 1. Chicago Community Centre
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Productive area - Commercial area
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A Vacant Centre
fig 6.4
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Modernist housing blocks.
Spontaneous housing in front of the Saint George Church.
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fig 6.5
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fig 6.6
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The city market.
fig 6.7
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Ateliers or workshops.
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A Vacant Centre
fig 6.8
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The synagogue.
fig 6.9
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A fenced school.
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The Voids and The Public Sphere
fig 6.10 Signs of appropriation in one of the voids.
A Vacant Centre
As mentioned before, the voids in the fabric now occupy an important place in the public sphere. These plains form the scenery for a wide variety of functions and activities ranging from parking space to community archaeology and appropriation. Most of the social interactions start at nightfall, when the temperature is more agreeable. Another important feature is that of the short cuts, creating soft-traffic routes in the heart of the city.
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The Voids and The Market Place
fig 6.11
The night market at the Khan el-Hilu.
A Vacant Centre
The best known function of the voids is that of the market spaces. There are three different markets in the area, each on their own regular basis. The Lod-Ramle market (1) is the biggest. Every Tuesday it hosts a wide variety of products, ranging from clothing to furniture and electronics. The second one is the vegetable market (2) that is held every Monday and Tuesday. Farmers and stores from all around the area come here to sell fruit, vegetables and spices. Finally the Khan hosts a bi-monthly night market (3), organised by Arab women and ( Jewish) women from Ethiopian descend. The night market is mainly a food event but also incorporates music and other cultural aspects.
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The Voids and The Tourist Scene
A Vacant Centre
fig 6.12 The restored streetscape in front of the Saint George Church.
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Many of these voids contain remnants of Ottoman or other historic times. Together with the market places and the Saint George Church (6) they can form an interesting tourist route that could draw an extensive amount of visitors to the city. The Saint George Church and the adjacent monastery is by far the most popular attraction of the city. Pilgrims, mainly Orthodox Christians, come from all over the world to see it. This has already led to investments in the restoration of the streetscape. Next to it is the el-Omri Mosque (5), together with an adjacent synagogue they form ‘The Square of the Three Religions’, which serves mostly as a parking space. Furthermore, the ruins of the olive factory (4), the olive press (8) and the Building of the Arches (7) all tell the story of Lod’s productive past. Finally a well preserved Roman mosaic was also found and there are plans for the construction of a museum. This building is unfortunately planned on an auto-based location, right next to the highway exit so that is does not contribute to the dynamics of the city. (9)
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The Khan el-Hilu
A Vacant Centre
The void around the Khan el-Hilu is one of the few places in Lod that leaves a lasting impression. Every organisation in Lod has a different plan for it, and even the municipality has changed its views on the area a few times. Ranging from an â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;open air museumâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to a restaurant/ marketplace or from a municipal park to a heavy densified area; all options have been considered.
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The most recent option is one that follows the overall strategy of the masterplan, meaning heavy densification. The guidelines for the development state that the area is to be developed as a historic area, while maintaining its unique character. Also, historical monuments will be preserved and serve as tourist attractions and cultural hubs. As the reconstruction of the fabric as it was during Ottoman times is not achievable, the masterplan proposes to build in classic Mediterranean style. In addition to this, the area will be developed as a commercial and recreational tourist area combined with housing. Non of these guidelines seem irrational and could regenerate the area, were it not that they are implemented in a very harsh way. In the proposed plans the whole void west of the khan is filled up by forming new building blocks with the existing modernist housing. Not only are those buildings not designed for such constellations, the closed building block typology is something that does not exist in the entire city. Furthermore all of the existing public space created by the voids is swallowed inside those blocks, leaving nothing for the people except a square at the east. Here the khan and the public space are surrounded by imposing façades. Despite the intentions set out in the guidelines, the proposed masterplan does not preserve the unique character of the site as the inherent quality of the voids is threatened..
fig 6.13
The municipal masterplan, with the khan in red.
Aerial photograph of the khan and its surroundings
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
fig 6.14
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fig 6.15 A study model of the municipal masterplan (1/400).
fig 6.16
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The planned square at the khan
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The Inhabitable Wall
As a reaction to the proposed masterplan, this design formulates another language. In order to safeguard and even strengthen the inherent qualities of the site a new way of densification is constructed.
A Vacant Centre
The void works as a public space because it offers a chance to flee the difficult society in the city today, it has become a place where there is no need to for the inhabitants to position themselves against one another. Here they are free to choose the function and meaning of the space for themselves. In an attempt to maintain these specific characteristics I introduce the paradigm of the inhabitable wall. (Khosravi, 2014). The same principle is found in the design of the Khan el-Hilu, or the caravanserai, were the wall “became a living tool to segregate the collective area from the unorganized realm” (Khosravi, 2014, p 45). This way, “the emptiness is intensified, rather than evacuated by building it to pieces”. (Van Gerrewey, 2014, p 445)
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The perimeter of the ‘wall’ is based on existing routes running over the site. These are strengthened and sometimes doubled, creating new front and backsides. On the outskirts well defined antechambers adjoin the buildings and intensify the existing program. In contrast to these defined areas the void lies at the centre, for everyone and no one to take.
fig 6.17
Caravanserai or khan typologies
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fig 6.18 Volume study (1/400).
The antechamber at the Chicago Community Centre
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fig 6.19
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A Shaded Network
As seen on the previous pages, the in-between spaces form a network of soft-traffic routes. Especially on this plain, the routes are clearly readable. To accommodate this network the already existing paths are strengthened and provided with shade. This happens in different ways by using arcades, canopies, trees and buildings. If we want to leave the void in its current condition, it is important that there are no imposing faรงades circumnavigating it. That is why some of these paths are doubled to create new backsides and alleys while at the same time allowing new circulation patterns within the existing fabric.
A Vacant Centre
Two entrances are defined: the connection with the Square of the Three Religions is made through an arcade that draws the visitor towards the void and on the other side big palm trees amidst smaller trees mark the entrance from the neighbourhood. On the north a new path accompanied by a bicycle storage marks a new entrance for the adjacent school.
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A System of Antechambres
A Vacant Centre
Throughout the project four antechambers are defined: The Square of the Three Religions; a smaller square at the community centre; the courtyard of the Khan and a grid of trees amidst higher development that interacts with the neighbourhood. In contrast to the void, these places are circumnavigated by strong frontside façades and the qualities of their existing program are intensified.
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At The Square of the Three Religions a visitor centre and a small orchard serve as an assembly area for tourists. Here and under the arcade locals can come and sell products. The Chicago Community Centre receives an entrance that opens toward a small square. This square is composed of a canopy linking a closed off garden to the Centre and a row of trees. The garden provides an outdoor space that can be time-shared by different groups. For instance, it can serve as an extension of the existing womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cafĂŠ. The west wing of the courtyard of the Khan is completed, creating an intimate space that can be used for all sorts of cultural activities such as concerts, workshops and of course the existing night market. On the east side a programmed tree grid is made up out of different sections and programs. Next to the community centre, an orchard and a playground are installed. In the centre a grid of higher palm trees marks an entrance while in the north it provides shade for by-passers and users of the football field.
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A Vacant Centre
A Vacant Centre
At the heart of the project lies the vacant lot. As pointed out throughout the book, these places are the real commons of the city. Because of their open character, they allow coincidences and free usage of space. (De Jong, 2012) To allow places like these to subsist, their conditions must not be altered. In this case, the openness and backside conditions are preserved. As there are plans for the city market square to become a more permanent market, this plain can absorb some of its program such as the hosting of big festivities, programming the place into the mental map of the inhabitants.
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A Mixed-use Development
As seen in the rest of the old city, a mix of program and functions can create a fertile environment for exchange and public life. Also the municipal masterplan asks for a mix of commercial, recreational and tourist program combined with housing. Seeing that the area is inside the city centre and infrastructure such as the highway and the airport is easily accessible, it is ideal for the implementation of a integrated program. Besides the current possibilities, Lod also used to be a very productive city in the past.
A Vacant Centre
Nowadays many inhabitants often feel discouraged by the city or experience a lack of available infrastructure to start their own business. When new infrastructure is provided these start-ups or ateliers can be developed in a coalition with the Jindas organisation. This NGO - the only one in Lod focusing on economic redevelopment - has already started an entrepreneurial committee in Lod and assists an association of business owners with workshops and lectures. Furthermore, the municipality recently proposed the Khan el-Hilu as a cultural hub to the Ministry of Tourism. This could be a chance to install a place where locals come to follow workshops but also watch performances or receive a cultural education.
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Another reoccurring problem in Lod is the fact that the modernist housing blocks do not have a programmed ground floor. Solely used for circulation, these spaces are often littered with thrash and graffiti. That is why the ground floors of the proposed tower are programmed with commercial or office functions. Due to the cheap land prices and central location, many companies such as the Israel Railway Company and the Mizrahi Bank are already moving to Lod.
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Epilogue In this project the latent qualities of the voids in the old city centre are valued and appreciated. The proposed urban scheme tries to work with them, rather than against them. By doing so, the design functions as a framework in which appropriation and flexibility is possible, without making too many concessions regarding the demanded program and the masterplan guidelines. Therefore it should be seen as a strategy that works on the same scale as the masterplan but uses a different approach and language.
Intermediate Nature The Ayalon Valley is characterised by alternating periods of droughts and floods. The increasing amount of impermeable surfaces as well as vegetation removal lead to higher risks of flooding. In addition to disregarding the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s social complexity, the contemporary urban planning practice does not take into account ecosystems that could serve as natural water regulators. This project aims to transform a large empty area framed by the Gazer Wadi and the highway into a hybrid urban space, combining ecosystem services where water is harvested to a generous network of public spaces. These two assets could turn the neglected in-between space into an indispensable area for Lod on a social and ecological level. by Oscar Broeckhoven
Proposed Development for Akhisamakh Neighbourhood
The area of Akhisamakh is located on the south-eastern edge of the city, separated by the highway infrastructure. On the other side it borders the Gazar wadi, which is a tributary of the Ayalon wadi. Recently the municipality of Lod proposed a masterplan with the idea of expanding because like many other cities in Israel it will have to house Jewish immigrants as well as Palestinians. For example more and more Jews from Europe are immigrating due to rising tensions and violence against Jewish people (Vice News, 2016). Akhisamakh is one of the areas that will accommodate these immigrants, in this case ten thousand Orthodox Jews. Currently it is still a green field and together with Ganei Yaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ar (middle-class, mainly Jewish neighbourhood) and Ahisamah (moshav) it is located in the shallow valley of the Gazar. The proposed development has two neighbourhoods each characterised by a unique housing typology and grain size. The cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main east-to-west boulevard, where the municipality, mall and train station are located, will be extended so it reaches Akhisamakh. A recreational park will be constructed between the apartment towers and the wadi. Another park between the single houses and highway will function as a noise and pollution buffer.
Intermediate Nature
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This type of city expansion contributes to the insular nature of the Lod neighbourhoods. We see business as usual in the master planning practice, even when the problems are clearly visible in other neighbourhoods: lack of permeable surfaces and vegetation, water sensitive urban design, shaded public space and an autistic relationship with the wadi. However, their insular nature creates multifaceted opportunities for the empty space in-between and in turn for the city and its inhabitants. I will propose a counter project that is adapted to the climatic context and its water issues.
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fig 7.1 Area of proposed development with Lod in the background and Ganei Yaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ar on the right. Layers of the palimpsest are visible such as olive trees and piles of debris. In the summer these empty spaces are dry, in the winter these places flourish and turn into oases.
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Water Issues wadi drainage canal, pipe or swale division between drainage basins municipal boundary of Lod agriculture forest green field
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Israel has a semi-arid climate and rain mainly falls in the winter and in the northern parts. Over the past decades the number of droughts have risen and average rainfall has dropped, eventually climate change will make matters worse and cities will face water shortages. Surface waters and groundwater aquifers have been depleted and Israel has become a leading player in reclaiming wastewater1 and desalinating seawater. Wastewater is treated in a treatment facility through a complex, chemical and energy intensive proces. Currently half of the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s water supply depends on these unconventional resources. Harvesting rain- and stormwater2 through water sensitive urban design is an extremely simple proces as opposed to treating wastewater or desalinating seawater. It can be reused for commercial and industrial activity, recharging groundwater aquifers and (agricultural) irrigation. Also grey water3, averaged at 98l/person/day (Morel et al., 2006), can easily be reused by a two-step filtration proces. The Ayalon valley is being urbanised, vegetation is being removed and soils become erodible. Green fields, forests and agricultural fields are replaced by asphalt roads, parking lots, housing and tertiary industry. Studies show a strong relationship between these land-cover changes and an increase in rainfall runoff volumes and peak discharges (Noa Ohana-Levi et al., 2015). These reoccurring phenomena ensure that the valley is becoming less and less capable of fulfilling its ecological function, resulting in severe flooding. Lod is drained by two basins that directly discharge into the surrounding wadis (Ayalon, Gazar). The cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s impermeable surfaces are drained by concrete canals, this proces accelerates runoff water. Essentially it has to slow down runoff water and allow water infiltration through permeable surfaces. Vegetation creates more porous soils, allows infiltration and at the same time create a cool microclimate and cast shadows. On impermeable surfaces stormwater can be caught, pollutants filtered and carried off to a wadi or reservoir.
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Flooding of high- and railway in the city centre of Tel Aviv.
1 Wastewater is the end product of sewage inflow and is highly contaminated. 2 Stormwater is rainwater that does not infiltrate into the ground, runs over impermeable surfaces and collects pollutants. 3 Grey water comes from kitchens and bathrooms of households, not toilets. It is relatively clean and largely contains organic waste and soaps.
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fig 7.3 Documentation (Noa Ohana-Levi et al, 2015) concerning relations between land-cover changes and rainfall runoff and peak discharges.
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The contemporary masterplanning practice and water issues of the region call for a water sensitive urbanisation that values the multiple roles of empty spaces. Simultaneously, the urban context of the in-between city creates the necessity to design some of them. The idea is to design a hybrid of commons and ecosystem services. Hereby it becomes an intermediate natures of the in-between city that is indispensable to its complex social Ă nd ecological dynamics. The project safeguards and revalues the empty space by servicing the ecosystem on different scales, (re)defining the edges of the Ganei Yaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ar and Akhisamakh neighbourhood and introducing a couple of strong defined public spaces and allowing informal appropriation. The horizontal and vertical circulation paths for slow traffic form a system of embankments that separate two water filtration systems: bioretention ponds for rain- and stormwater (1), constructed wetlands for grey water (2). A swimming pond next to the wadi and a communal orchard are strong defined, recognisable commons and are therefore located on the circulation paths. The bioretention ponds (in winter)/ grassland (in summer) have a more informal character and can be appropriated for multiple purposes such as grazing areas for cattle, wedding parties and festivities,... Essentially these are places, such as the mall or the weekly market, where people can interact and meet. Therefore they form the basis for social cohesion.
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1. Servicing the Ecosystem: Water Filtration Systems constructed wetland bioretention pond (wet)/grassland (dry) swimming pond/water reservoir filtered water (open canal) filtered water (pipe) unfiltered water (open canal) unfiltered water (pipe)
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Rain- and stormwater from the adjacent neighbourhoods is collected and filtered through bioretention ponds. The natural slopes of the terrain are used to form these temporal flooding areas. The water reaches the bioretention ponds through open canals along the streets and paths. These are positioned oblique to the contour lines and form a system of embankments that allows water levels to rise. After filtration there are multiple options: recharging groundwater, storing for (agricultural) irrigation or discharging in surface water. When it rains and chances of flooding are high, the filtered water flows into the swimming pond that temporarily functions as a reservoir. Otherwise it recharges groundwater and discharges into the Gazar wadi to contribute to an uninterrupted flow of water. When it is dry, the ponds turn into grasslands and can be appropriated by whomever or whatever. Grey water from the adjacent neighbourhoods is filtered through constructed wetlands with native reeds. It is carried to the wetlands through pipes underneath the streets and embankments. A single path crosses the other paths and forms the border of the two filtration systems. For each system to work stormwater and grey water have to be kept separated, after filtration they can mix. The embankments form circulation paths for slow traffic and are built out of debris of the disrupted city. The pit that arises from excavation is used to construct the wetlands.
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In bioretention ponds rain- and stormwater is collected and passes through multiple layers, first permeable soil, roots of water-tolerant plants that improve the revomal of pollutants and sand. Then the filtered water reaches the underdrain system and is ready for reuse. These systems often incorporate an emergency overflow with a filter in case of extreme rainfall.
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The constructed wetlands are the second phase in grey water filtration. Grey water is pretreated in a septic tank through a sedimentation proces. Then it passes through a vertical-flow planted filter with native reeds. Pipes beneath a layer of gravel feed pretreated water, it passes through a layer of sand and roots before reaching the underdrain system. The strength of this particular system is that the pretreated water never comes above ground level so there is no odour and a number of projects have already been succesfully implemented in Israel and Jordan. (Morel et al., 2006)
fig 7.6 Native reeds: Arundo Donax, Phragmites Australis, Typha Domingensis.
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1. Servicing the Ecosystem: Vegetation permeable surface (vegetation, gravel) planted trees
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Efforts are made to keep as much of the existing vegetation as possible. Inside and on the edges of the Ganei Ya’ar and Akhisamakh trees replace asphalt surfaces in order to slow down rainwater and allow water infiltration. They also enhance the surroundings, block views, create cool microclimates, cast shadows and help to define the edges of the neighbourhoods. The parking area is organised in such a way that impermeable areas (driving lane) drain in the direction of permeable areas (parking lane). Rainwater is filtered through gravel and sand layer and infiltrates into the ground. Adjacent to Highway 40 trees of various types are added in the existing arbitrary grid and form a dense forest. It functions as noise and pollution buffer and creates a surplus value when driving along the highway. A communal orchard of olive and almond trees is planted in a ‘quincux’ pattern, which means four trees in each corner of a square and one in the middle. Since olive trees grow extremely slow it is profitable to work with ‘filler’ trees which grow faster, such as almond trees. They are positioned in the middle and ensure that the orchard becomes productive in a shorter amount of time. The layout of the orchard is chosen in such a way that it seems to be an almond orchard when you arrive from the southside and an olive orchard from the northside. The trees on the circulation paths cast shadows and their roots also naturally reinforce the embankment.
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The cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main east-to-west boulevard is extended so it reaches Akhisamakh. Hereby public space can be implemented and enabled on a citywide scale. The boulevard has a wide pavement and a bicycle lane separated by wild flowers, high grasses and trees (p164). Occasionally a bench positiones itself in the greenery between two trees hereby creating the possibility to pause. A dense forest is planted next to Highway 40 in the existing arbitrary grid. A path from the city centre runs through the forest and forms the separation between the two water filtration systems. On the opposite side paths along the Gazar wadi and a swimming pond define the edge. These circulation paths also have a wide pavement and bicycle lane separated by vegetation and benches (p162). The vertical paths cross the boulevard and lay out the backbone of Akhisamakh. Water runs along these streets towards the in-between space where it is harvested. The septic tanks of housing towers and urban villas are connected with the streets so grey water can flow to the wetlands. In the southern part of Ganei Yaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ar housing towers are added and together with planted trees redefine its edge. The volumes are comparable to the other residential buildings of the neighbourhood.
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The large empty space only needs a few strong defined, recognisable public spaces and a connection between them and the surroundings. The horizontal circulation path is part of the regional bicycle network. It connects Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area and its hinterland (Lod, Ben Shemen Forest,...). A swimming pond takes advantage of the filtered water and the extension of the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main boulevard. It is positioned at the lowest point of the terrain, next to the Gazar wadi. By doing so, it takes the first step of restoring the relationship between the city and wadi. The swimming pond has a core fixed waterbody but also a flooding area, ever changing because of rainfall and droughts. Trees are planted to cast shadows over the swimmers and simultaneously create ideal microclimates to relax on a (very) hot sunny day. A communal orchard with olive and almond trees can be harvested by anyone. Its maintenance creates low-income jobs for Mizrahi Jews and Arabs who are often less educated than non-oriental Jews. During rainy months the bioretention ponds contain water, however when its dry they turn into grasslands where festivities, events,... can happen. It is a place, like the rest of the terrain, that allows informal approriation. In Lod many Arabs breed cattle, mostly for personal use, adjacent to their house in cramped stables. They can, for example, take advantage of these vast grasslands for their cattle to graze and get some physical exercise.
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Cycling the In-between Landscape Taking on the regional bike highway agenda as an opportunity, this design proposal focuses on a sequence of terrains vagues generated by railway infrastructures, transforming them from disregarded and underused spaces into a slow backbone for the city of Lod. It serves as a counterproposal for the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s master plan and its proposed asphalt and concrete surfaces, that would cover evermore land and increase the impermeable surface drastically. It also serves as an alternative for the somewhat forced coexistence of mixed housing neighbourhoods, in search of a common space that allows for an informal â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;living apart togetherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; strategy. by Katrien Daeyaert
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fig 8.1 Terrain vague enclosed by railway tracks on both sides with some olive trees and demolition debris as witnesses from the turbulent past. Self constructed Arab houses in the background, Ganei Aviv housing towers behind.
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fig 8.2 The Russian-Jewish neighbourhood of Ganei-Aviv is a voluntary enclave, secluded by walls and fences. Adjacent back of house no manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s land.
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fig 8.3 Remaining orchards are incorporated in the domain of Arab families or private enterprises, and walled off from outsiders.
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Lod and the Regional Bike Network
How can Lod become a player in a regional system of bike highways? In contrast to the hard infrastructures that are so significant to the urban landscape of Lod and its surroundings, the existing soft network is underused and disjointed. There are almost no bike lanes or pedestrian paths connecting Lod with its region, making it impossible to commute through cycling. However the potential of the city for slow traffic is worth exploring, given its central location in the Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area and the proximity of some natural amenities. Putting Lod on the map of a regional bike network can be a trigger for further developments of soft functions and ecosystems as well as tourism.
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What are the possibilities of connecting Lod to a bike network comprising the entire Tel Aviv Metropolitan Area? In several newspaper articles and on social media government plans are promoted to implement a better bike network that would connect Tel Aviv with its suburbs and hinterland. Although these plans are merely being explored (until today nothing has been concreted), there are many arguments in favour of such a network. An example is the rising number of electrical bikes in the streets (they were massively imported since 2014), extending the travel distances that are feasible for daily commute deep into the region. That would encourage more people to use bicycles for their commute, alleviating road traffic congestion and contribute to a more environmentally friendly transport system. Potential bicycle commuter routes as well as leisure and sports routes are laid out in this map, based on the existing plans from the Transportation ministry, as well as Strava Heatmap information and our own cycling experiences during the fieldwork weeks. Because of a lack of bike infrastructure and amenities, passing through Lod by bike is not so attractive right now. The bike ride in between Tel Aviv and Lod however is quite spectacular, passing through Lod would be the shortest route to reach the Ben Shemen forest. Also work related journeys within the urban area of Lod to major employment areas such as the airport city could be done by bike.
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The bike route from Tel Aviv to Lod passes through beautiful scenery, but there is a lack of suitable infrastructure.
The route is running along the former landfill that is now the Ariel Sharon park.
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fig 8.6 Different infrastructures cross in the Ayalon valley. The Ayalon river is approached merely as an engineered infrastructure to carry off storm water to the Mediterranean. A safe way for bikes to cross is not present. View on Ben Gurion airport.
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fig 8.7 The entrance to the city by bike from the surrounding landscape is often devious. View on the housing towers of Lod from the surrounding open landscape.
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–– Rinat, Z. (2016, February 27). An obstacle path to a seamless Tel Aviv bike lane network. Retrieved from http:// www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.705602
–– Dori, O. (2016, January 29). Tel Aviv Bicycle-rental Program Tel-O-Fun Expands Into Ramat Gan Suburb. Retrieved from http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.700221
Cycling the In-between Landscape
–– Grossman, M. M. (2016, April 17). Tel Aviv sidewalk cyclists to face fine starting in May. The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved from http://www. jpost.com/Israel-News/Tel-Aviv-sidewalk-cyclists-to-face-fine-starting-in-May-451504
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–– Critical Mass Tel Aviv. (n.d.). Retrieved 20 August 2016, from https://www.facebook.com/criticalmasstlv/?fref=ts
–– Cohen, H. (2016, July 12). Cycle path network planned for Greater Tel Aviv - Globes English. Retrieved 20 August 2016, from http:// www.globes.co.il/en/article-transport-minister-plans-bicycle-path-network-in-greater-tel-aviv-100105235
–– Cohen, H. (2016, July 12). Cycle path network planned for Greater Tel Aviv - Globes English. Retrieved 20 August 2016, from http:// www.globes.co.il/en/article-transport-minister-plans-bicycle-path-network-in-greater-tel-aviv-100105235
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
–– Sharon, U. (2015, July 12). Transportation Ministry to build 150-km. bike path ‘autostrada’ network in Gush Dan. The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. Retrieved from http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Environment/Transportation-Ministry-to-build-150-km-bike-path-autostrada-network-in-Gush-Dan-408734 May-451504
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Asphalt vs Terrain Vague
In the north-west of Lod the passenger rail enters the city, accompanied by a strip of terrain vague. What are the qualities of this sequence of neglected in-between-spaces and which social groups would benefit from their persistence? The cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s master plan and its proposed asphalt and concrete surfaces demand for a counterproposal that values open landscapes. I propose to use the concept of terrain vague as an affirmative planning subject that is part of the master planning logic and allows for precise yet open ended usages and claims to find their ground, be it temporary.
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Business as usual: Densification and Asphalt Covering
A different strategy
A different strategy would accept the presence of set apart neighbourhoods inhabited by diverse social groups and enhance it - not forcing the self focused enclaves to be part of a bigger urban entity. Instead the sequence of open landscape fragments that accompany the linear barrier could be connected and made more accessible, valuing the vagueness and lack of programme of these spaces . This allows for precise, yet open ended usages and time-shared activities to find their ground in the in-between 196 landscape.
fig 8.8 fig 8.9
Lod Land cover plan 2015 land cover plan in masterplan for Lod
â&#x2020;&#x2019;
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Planned interventions for this area as put forward in documents obtained from the Lod municipality include densification with high rise residential towers on every inch of unbuilt open space. In addition a central park is implemented on top of the rails, industrial zones are expanded at the expense of agricultural land and terrain vague is annexed for more residential slabs. The interventions in this master plan are problematic on different levels. First of all trying to fade out the different enclaves and their borders by densifying is a forced gesture and will most likely lead to hard confrontations between the different communities. The typical housing tower with single family apartments does not necessarily fit the needs of different cultures. For example the housing needs of Bedouin families include zones for cattle and micro economies as well as family clustered residential units. Secondly this kind of urbanism that places housing towers on a tabula rasa and fills up the interstitial spaces with asphalt to create as much parking lots as possible doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take into account the Middle Eastern climate. The packed up masses of concrete and asphalt are surfaces that capture a lot of radiation, resulting in higher temperatures (urban heat island effect). The ecological systems that were present are ignored and natural resources are quantified and regulated, losing all of their added value.
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The urban agglomeration of Lod and Ramle is an enclave of asphalt and concrete surrounded by a stretched out landscape of agricultural fields, nature reserves and forests. Looking back to the Palestinian landscape, the city’s sole raison d’être was agricultural production. Even though the landscape has been dispossessed and rewritten several times to result in the present Israeli urban landscape (see chapter ‘Writing the Palimpsest), traces and qualities of this productive landscape can still be found in the in-between spaces of the city. In the present, the city seems to completely ignore its surrounding landscape, the productive function taken over by the Moshavim in the area. However taking a look at the multitude of terrains vagues, present within the administrative or physical city borders, a seemingly continuous sequence of open landscapes can be distinguished. But when one moves through the city these open spaces are not at all perceived as continuous, because they are hidden behind walls or cut off by infrastructures. Herein lies an opportunity not only to make these interstitial spaces accessible for slow traffic, but also to reintegrate the (productive) landscape in the city. Hereby we could learn some things from the traditional Palestinian landscape, not aiming at a reconstruction, or a symbolic or political statement, but rather some subtle influences to counter the ongoing urbanism of asphalt and concrete.
fig 8.10
The productive landscape of al -Ludd, 1880.
open landscape inside openOpen open landscape landscape inside inside landscapes
built tissue outside builtbuilt tissue tissue outside outside
Lod infrastructural Lod infrastructural borders Lod borders infrastructural Lod infrastructural borders borders
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Safeguarding Lod's Common Spaces
Cycling the In-between Landscape
The in-between space becomes very interesting in the context of Lod’s multitude of ethnicities and communities and its ethnocratic way of doing urban planning. Also called terrain vague or undefined space, a residual space, it is almost nothing and thus a space where paradoxically almost everything is possible. It is characterised by its temporal and informal uses. From wedding party terrain to camel grazing area to informal short cut for pedestrians and bikers, to garbage dump site... There is something in the terrain vague that could be recognised by the eyes of a former soviet Jew as well as by former Negev Bedouin, giving it the potential of becoming -with some effort - a platform for ‘living apart together’ (coexistence is a word too optimistic in this context).
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On the subject of the commons there is an entire discourse going on. Several academic voices recently laid out their point of view or tried to stick some kind of definition on it. One of the definitions worth quoting, is Lieven De Cauter’s poetical one: “ [...]the common is that what belongs to nobody and therefore to everybody, or, what belongs to everybody and therefore to nobody. This is a simple paradox that spells the fragility, the ungraspable, enigmatic character of the common well. The commons is mysterious in a sense...” (De Cauter, 2013.). Clearly this fragility can be found in the in-between spaces that Lod is rich in, since if the ‘business as usual’ urbanism is continued, they will disappear. Another quite radical approach to the commons, but very applicable in the case of Lod, is the one by Wim Cuyvers. He gives a series of 36 definitions of public space as common space, of which the following two are relevant for Lod: “[Common] spaces are characterized by waste: in a society that is unambiguously driven by profit, places where waste lingers are ignored places.” (Cuyvers, n.d.) Already during the fieldwork weeks we noticed how terrain vague systematically is covered with heaps of garbage and debris, however this wouldn’t prevent the spaces from being used. “People of different ages, races or cultures, people with completely different needs visit the same [common] spaces. Their needs are different but they read the space in the same way: the child, the old man, the drug abuser and those looking for (homo) sexual contacts, those who give in to their need, read this space in the same way.” (Cuyvers, n.d.) The above arguments show the qualities of the in-between spaces (maybe we can call them Lod’s ultimate commons?) in the context of an urban planning mechanism that favours certain ethnic groups on the expense of others. The challenge now is to develop a landscape strategy that prevents the in-between spaces from being gobbled up by project developers or municipal planning instruments.
fig 8.12 A terrain vague in between the Ganei Aviv and Neve Shalom neighbourhoods is turned into a place where a Bedouin wedding can be celebrated.
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
fig 8.11 This residual space with waste at the edge of the Northern Bedouin neighbourhood is also used as a pasture for camels.
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Landscape Strategy
Existing fragments of terrain vague are connected into a continuous in-between landscape. A bike path and pedestrian trails offer new perceptions of the open landscape. The diverse social groups inhabiting the adjacent neighbourhoods are invited to appropriate these spaces and interact with them at different moments in time, time-shared spaces being more plausible than actual shared spaces. Together with a soft transportation network, tree and water systems provide arguments to safeguard and value these open areas. The in-between landscape becomes a necessary mediator between heterogeneous neighbourhood fragments.
From Fringes to Backbone
By introducing the bicycle path as Lodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most important entrance for soft mobility, the sequence of landscape fragments which are now perceived as neglected backyards or residual fringes are stitched together into a continuous system. Travelling through these fragments by bike opens up a new experience that is now hidden for most eyes. Onto the continuous structures of bike path and riverbed, different landscape entities attach. Travelling from north to south, three open spaces with different characters can be distinguished. A first one is the productive park (1) in between the Ganei Aviv neighbourhood and the railway embankment. The most southern one is an extended open grassland, partially serving as temporal flood area (3). And finally a linear square (2) alongside the road functions as a bayonet in between these two large open areas.
fig 8.13 Parckfarm, Brussels. A bottom-up project transforming a linear residual space into a productive park for the neighbourhood. (1)
Cycling the In-between Landscape
The productive park or urban farming garden includes zones for vegetable gardens for the neighbourhood, communal orchards (self harvest zones) for passers by and locals alike. The riverbed is a natural barrier, on the east side of which small scale farming plots and orchards can be farmed out to individual farmers. A part of the farmland of the existing Hasidic farming community has to be de-privatised in order to make the connection of this park possible, but compensation can be offered by the newly created farming plots as well as irrigation water by storage of excess storm water upstream.
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The linear bayonet space is located on a mobility crossroads and allows the passing automotive traffic (of which there is much) to get in touch with the landscapes that it links. In a way it is the interface with the city of fast mobility. It is the most urban of all three open spaces. Its smaller size and different texture distinguish it from the other two and allow for different activities to take place here.
fig 8.14 Passeig de St Joan, Barcelona. A broadened urban boulevard, making more room for slow traffic. (2)
The open grassland allows for multiple informal uses and serves as a water buffer zone during the wet months, allowing for excess runoff to be slowed down and naturally purified. References evoke the atmosphere intended for each of these spaces.
fig 8.15 Park Spoor Noord, Antwerp. Large open areas as oversized garden and breathing space for adjacent neighbourhoods. (3)
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Platforms for Informal Activities
Each of the three landscapes allows for different kinds of activities to take place at different moments in time. As mentioned in ‘Safeguarding Lod’s Common Spaces’ the in-between spaces of the city are perfect platforms for temporal and informal activities. The three landscapes allow for these activities to be continued and encourage new sorts of usages. In the climate of the Middle East there is a vibrant culture of outdoor activities, shade being indispensable for a common space to be used. Creating shaded zones in outdoor areas allows for different social groups to benefit from it and lifts boundaries, since some social groups are not able to find relief in air-conditioned private areas. On hot days people usually start to come outside in the evening when the heat is no longer unbearable. The diagram shows one possible scenario, but a wide range of activities is imaginable.
fig 8.16 Improvised tent for Bedouin wedding, or just as shaded area to enjoy an afternoon coffee.
Cycling the In-between Landscape
The communal orchards’ trees are spaced enough to allow for fabric to be upheld in between them, allowing for festivities to take place underneath such as planting or harvest festivals etc.. Some common sheds that hold farming equipment are shared between the small scale farming plots and vegetable gardens.
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The linear space can be used by stallholders and vendors to sell local produce from the productive park. On other days it can serve as parking space for people from outside the neighbourhood who come to have a stroll in the landscape. The open grassland is perfect in size to continue being used as festivity terrain for weddings , the embankment along the new road shielding it from the traffic noise and pollution. When the river and the retention pond are dry, the areas can be used as a grazing zone.
fig 8.17
Stall with watermelons along the road.
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Network of Slow Routes
The new bicycle path provides an entrance to the city for soft modes of transportation. It goes beyond providing an A to B connection, but interacts with the different landscapes it passes through, inviting the passer by to stop and engage with it. The relation between cyclist and pedestrian paths as well as with the water stream continuously changes as it goes. Already, visible traces and short cuts in the landscape are present and are connected to the new routes. New passages make the different open spaces more accessible from the adjacent neighbourhoods, without disrupting their individual character.
Cycling the In-between Landscape
A set of farming trails allows larger vehicles to reach the farm plots. The exisiting closed off Hasidic communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s borders are redefined and get three new points of access, making the small farming plots along the river also accessible for them.
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Along the new road the existing debris is heaped up differently in order to create an embankment, shielding off traffic noise and pollution from the cyclists. The bike path crosses the railway tracks at two points. In the north, where there are only two tracks, the path runs along the direction of the tracks for a while, crosses the road on an extension of the railway bridge, and then uses the existing passage across the rails. and then using the existing passage over the rails. In the south, where a bundle of rail tracks come together, it is more dangerous to cross, so the bicycle path joins the road and crosses the railway through a tunnel.
fig 8.18 Cyclists in Lod nowadays are forced to use the roads, which leads to dangerous circumstances.
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Cycling the In-between Landscape 214
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From Run-off Ditch to Resilient Ecosystem
fig 8.19 Papyrus is used in the wetland to purify polluted water.
Cycling the In-between Landscape
Newly planted trees and a water system work together in absorbing excess storm water during the rainy months and serve as allies against the development of these open areas into a dense residential zone.
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The riverbed gets a new course and is no longer piped and covered up under the Ganei Aviv residential neighbourhood. The eastern run-off basin directs its water to this small stream, which eventually joins the Ayalon river outside of Lod. Duringi the winter months the flow rate is quite high. An existing depression in topography on this terrain is further dug out and turned into a natural water reservoir, creating a temporal flood area. This wetland slows the water down and purifies it, making use of papyrus plants. Chemicals( from human wastes and industrial discharge for example) and sediment are separated and settle on the bottom, where they are absorbed by the papyrusplants and converted into nutrients into the ecosystem, resulting in high biodiversity. The sediment and chemical control together with the recycled nutrients guarantee the water quality downstream, which can be used to irrigate the farm plot of the productive park. (â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;About wetlandsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;, n.d.) A series of trees lined alongside the riverbed helps gradually absorb water in times of heavy rainfall and so prevents flooding in more impermeable areas. During the hot and dry season the trees provide shade and define routes along which passers by on foot or bike will most likely move. As mentioned before the amount of shade is directly related to the intensity of use of common spaces in this climate.
fig 8.20 Hyphaene thebaica or Doum palm is an indigenous palm tree used to line the new road.
fig 8.21 Tipuana tipo or rosewood tree is a quickly growing tree which does not need a lot of irrigation. Its wide canopy offers abundant shade.
fig 8.22 Amygdalus arabica Oliv. or almond tree is suitable for orchards and works very well in combination with olive trees.
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Cycling the In-between Landscape
The Landscape as a Mediator
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The in-between landscapes allow for growth and densification to continue in each neighbourhood fragment in its own logic within certain limits. The finding of a suitable housing solution that fits the civil and civic needs of diverse ethnic groups is a completely different kind of project than the one we’re trying to address here. Instead it is suggested that each fragment can continue to expand on some of the open spaces that are left, each one with its own particular characteristics, suiting the needs of its own ethnic group best. For example the empty plots in the Ganei Aviv neighbourhood can be filled in with more H-blocks and parking lots. Further expansion of the informal Arab housing neighbourhoods with self-constructed hamoula’s on agricultural land is also possible. In the past (and continuing today) infrastructural barriers were used as a mechanism of demographic engineering. Here instead of a hard barrier there is an attractive ‘no-man’s land’ in between the fragments, allowing for appropriation if the user desires so. However, the implementation of the new road infrastructure as proposed in the master plan helps to solve major traffic problems .The new automotive connection assures that the Neve Shalom and Pardes Shanir neighbourhoods are reachable in a safer way than they are now, releasing pressure off the dangerous existing connection further down the railroad and lifting somewhat the secludedness of these areas from the rest of the city. They also make it easier for the Ganei Aviv inhabitants to reach the centre of Lod, perhaps helping it to escape from its status as a dormitory suburb of Tel Aviv.
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Epilogue
This landscape intervention doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pretend to orchestrate or miraculously improve the social relations between ethnic groups living in separation and often also in conflict. They offer a breeding ground for time-shared activities in the hope that natural archetypes as trees and shade, water and farming are strong enough to persuade both an Arab Bedouin and a Russian Jew to step out of their neighbourhood bubble and engage with the scenery. But in the end the success of this landscape strategy is very much determined by the inhabitants themselves. The role of the planner or designer is a facilitating one rather than a controlling one in these case, which is very much in contrast with the current way of going about urban planning in Lod.
A Revalued City Entrance Being badly outdated and characterized by a lack of vital urban functions Lodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current train station area provides by no means a worthy entrance to the city. Instead, one is immediately faced with the results of Lodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s destructive city planning: a desolate concrete jungle embedded in a sea of infrastructure, without respect for the urban, sociological and ecological framework in which it is embedded. However, major transformations are on its way. The station area is to be one of the main focal points of Lodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s redevelopment scheme. Easily accessible and begging for development, this area hosts a large possible potential of getting Lod back on the map. By developing this area as nexus, as opposed to the insular entity that it is today, the master plan proposed here aims to reintroduce the area into the city, by reclaiming its role as a major gateway. by Benjamin Van Gool
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A Deficient City Entrance
Akko Kiryat Motzkin Kiryat Hayyim Hutsot Hamifrats Lev Hamifrats Haifa Center - Hashmona Haifa - Bat Gallim Haifa - Hof HaKarmel Atlit ol
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The importance of Lod within the national railway network is however not reflected in the current train station and its surroundings. (i.e. the area enclosed by the railyard and the main road parallel to it, as indicated in fig 9.2). Being badly outdated and characterized by poor accessibility, the area provides by no means a worthy entrance to the city. In times where train stations are evolving from places solely used for commuting into major city hubs combining multiple functionalities, a new comprehensive vision for the entire area will be necessary. By redeveloping the station area as a connector rather than the insular entity that it is today, it can be reintegrated in its present urban context and consequently reclaim its role as major gateway to the city. Based on a brief analysis of the deficiencies of the current situation, as well as the future development brought forward by the municipality, a new resilient masterplan will be proposed.
Nahariyya
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A Revalued City Entrance
Throughout its history Lod has always been an important railway node. What started off as a modest train stop under Ottoman reign, later developed towards a major railway settlement during the British Mandate. Today, Lod still serves as a crucial stop within the country’s railway network, mainly due to the transfer possibilities between various passenger routes. (fig 9.1) In fact the majority of passengers merely use the station for transferring between these different lines, instead of having Lod as their final destination. In addition to being one of the busiest stations in the country, Lod is also home to the main train depot of the Israel Railway Company, which is located in the railyard enclave.
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fig 9.2 Aerial photograph of the train station surroundings.
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Current Situation
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Ever since the the British constructed the railyard and the main road parallel to it, the train station surroundings gradually transformed into the disorderly area that it is today. As seen throughout the rest of the city, here as well the landscape is dominated by asphalted surfaces alternated with fragments of leftover greenery located in between the mainly spontaneous developed building structures. In the north however the existing layers of the palimpsest are already been obliterated for the construction of the new headquarters of the Israel Railway Company. (see Proposed Development)
A Revalued City Entrance
The train station itself is hardly visible and moreover lacks clear directions towards it. Arriving in Lod by train, followed by a dark narrow passage underneath the railway tracks, feels like entering the city through the rear gate. (1) Directly in front of the train station entrance a zone with local enterprises, such as carpentries, carwashes and car repair shops can be found. Yet, almost none of these business really profit from the nearby presence of the station.
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Mobility throughout the area is deficient as well. Although connections between different modes of transportation are present, they are not properly designed. For example, there is currently no bus station nearby, forcing people to search for a bus/sheirut stop along the main road. Today most of the infrastructure in place is there to facilitate motorised traffic. Slow traffic on the other hand is barely addressed. Because decent sidewalks only exist along the main road infrastructure, pedestrians tend to move parallel to the motorised traffic. Moreover, due to absence of bicycle paths, cyclist have to use the road or sidewalks, hindering both car and pedestrian traffic. As shown throughout this dissertation the railway infrastructure forms as a strong barrier dividing the western part from the rest of the city. Because an important high school is situated there, Arab schoolkids from all over the city have to cross the railroad almost every day. The existing railroad crossing located on the northern boundary of the station area, is however highly problematic. (2) Due to the 8 railway tracks, trains pass by nearly every 5 minutes, obstructing continuous movement from east to west. Additionally, accidents between car and pedestrians occur regularly there due to the absence of a separate pedestrian lane.
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A Revalued City Entrance
fig 9.3 Entrance to the train station on the right, with some local entreprises in front of it.
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fig 9.4 Parking space at the main road with small-scale industrial activities in the back.
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fig 9.5 Leftover space inbetween the built fabric.
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fig 9.6 Arab students waiting to cross the railway tracks.
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Proposed Development
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After years of neglection the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Planning Department finally drew up a master plan for redevelopment of the station area in 2014. In collaboration with the Israel Railway Company a modern railway complex will be built in the north-east of the existing train station. In addition to the train station itself, a total of 75 000 square meter of office space as well as 10 000 square meters of commercial space, including cafes, restaurants and entertainment facilities will be incorporated into the complex. (Lod Municipality, n.d.) Furthermore the Israel Railway Company has decided to establish their headquarters in Lod. In total they will construct four administrative buildings of which one is already near completion today. To improve the mobility throughout the city the plans also include a new bus terminal, which will be erected in front of the new train station. With the proposed development the city aims to boost job opportunities in the city and increase their economic competitiveness in the region.
A Revalued City Entrance
critique
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The project offers a solution to some of the most urgent problems of the existing area, such as the need for a modern transportation hub, commercial spaces and job opportunities. Yet it lacks a comprehensive vision for the entire region, therefore missing the opportunity to better connect the area with the rest of the city. The current plans suggest to close the main railroad crossing and to construct a new tunnel 500 meters north of the existing crossing. For motorised traffic this could be an adequate solution, because it allows a continuous flow from east to west, without losing too much time. For pedestrians however, this shift will problematic as they are forced to walk much further to get to their destination. Besides, the project mainly focuses on enhancing public transport and car traffic. Slow traffic on the other hand is barely addressed. Due to the number of crossing with the road infrastructure, continuous movement for pedestrian and bicycle traffic will be difficult. In terms of scale and physical appearance the project completely mismatches with its surroundings. (fig. 9.8) In fact the proposal is typical for the current planning practice in Lod, where projects are being implemented without respecting the urban context and ecological structures in which they are embedded.
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A Revalued City Entrance
fig 9.7 Rendering of Israel Railway Company headquarters and the future train station complex including a bus station, commercial and office space.
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fig 9.8 Construction of main administrative building of the Israel Railway headquarters, completely out of scale in comparison to the surrounding context.
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From Island To City Connector
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Before developing the site itself, an overall strategy for reintroducing the area within the present-day urban context will be necessary. As pointed out in the analyses, the train station area currently functions as a self-focussed entity, which contributes little to the functioning of the city as a whole. Nevertheless, due to the presence of the train station and its location at the main city barrier (i.e. the railroad), the area has the potential to become an important city connector and should therefore be developed in this manner. First of all, the site will have to become the main transportation hub, facilitating access from and to different modes of transportation in the city. By developing the area as the new center of mobility, the first step in revaluing the area in the city will be initiated.
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The focus should however not only be on enhancing public transport connections. Due to the restricted size of the city, most of the daily movement could be done either by foot or by bicycle. Yet, the city currently lacks the necessary infrastructure to stimulate this type of traffic. Therefore a network of slow traffic routes connecting important focal points and existing landscape fragments within the city, will be proposed here. This landscape strategy can be seen as a completion of the slow traffic route which has already been implemented for the region north of the station area in the project Cycling The In-Between Landscape. (see chapter 8) In order for this network of routes to function properly, continuous movement from east to west of the city will be extremely important. Hence, the train station are will be an indispensable link within this proposed scheme, as it will provide a safe and decent east-west connection, that the city so desperately needs.
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A Flow-based Structure
As the master plan that will be proposed here, will develop the entire train station area from scratch, a clear structure will be necessary to achieve a coherent development. Due to the importance of the different mobility flows in reconnecting the station area with the rest of the city, these flows will also be used as the primary tool to structure future site development. First and foremost, the slow traffic route, as discussed in previous section, will be drawn through the heart of the site. Designed as a continuous landscape structure this central axis will serve as the main backbone within this master plan. Along this slow traffic route four transverse connections can be found, of which the northern one definitely is the most important one. Here, the indispensable connection from east to west will be made by constructing a new bridge solely for slow traffic usage. In order to ensure easy access for car and logistic traffic, the road infrastructure will be implemented as a system of loops. Where the big loop services the development along the train tracks, smaller loops are provided to service the development along the green axis and the main road. Furthermore, a bus terminal development zone is created by means of an additional loop, which will only be accessible for buses, taxis and sheiruts. By opting for this particular circulation scheme motorised and slow traffic are being separated from each other and the number of crossings between these two flows will be reduced to a minimum.
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Defining The Volumetry
In a next step the development zones, as outlined in previous section, will be refined using a set of volumetric principles. First of all a series of towers will be implemented at the main intersections of the slow traffic route. These tall building structures will not only be able to compensate the immense height of the main administrative building, they will also serve as recognisable elements who indicate where the slow traffic connections are located. Adjacent to these towers, no building development will be allowed to create additional open spaces along the green axis. Additionally, buildings alongside the slow traffic route will be shifted away from the axis to ensure a wide landscape development rather than a narrow green passageway. Furthermore, to prevent nuisances from trains within the heart of the site, buildings along the railyard will be erected as one continuous barrier. Finally, the majority of building development will be shifted horizontally and vertically to create a more dynamic built environment.
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A Mixed-use Development
To revitalize the area around the train station a mix of different functions and programs will be implemented, ensuring a vibrant city quarter throughout all moments of the day. As seen in chapter Lod As A Regional Player, this area is one of the most easily accessible and centrally located points of the whole country. This, combined with the relatively cheap land prices makes it a highly interesting area to develop the new jobs that the city so desperately needs. Therefore the bulk of the program will be made up out of office and commercial space. On top of this a productive zone with small scale industries will replace the existing companies located near the old train station entrance. However, to prevent the entire area to become as mono-functional as the industrial zone in the north of the city, residential zones will be be implemented around the green axis running through the interior of the site. Again, the accessibility of the site and the inexpensive land prices will also permit people working in other cities to settle in Lod in addition to those taking advantage of the newly created jobs. This process is already being initiated by the Ayalim students residing in Lod whilst commuting to their universities all over the country, creating an inflow of young educated inhabitants. Furthermore, recreative facilities and gathering places such as a community center and sports infrastructure will be implemented around and inside the towers serving as focal points, hereby creating a pleasant living environment and addressing the current lack of similar functions in the city.
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A Green Backbone
1. Bicycle path and walkways.
2. Stormwater harvesting.
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1. Bicycle Path & Walkways
bicycle path primary pedestrian path (paved) secundary pedestrian path (unpaved) road infrastructure pedestrian crossing private functions public functions building entrance public bicycle storage
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In order to accommodate slow traffic movement a network of bicycle and pedestrian paths will be constructed throughout the green axis. Running through the middle of the axis and constructed in red pigmented asphalt, the bicycle path will serve as a recognisable element within the proposed landscape development. Moreover will the colored path be continued over the streets to ensure safe road crossings. By providing additional bicycle infrastructure, such as public bicycle storage areas, the project aims to encourage people to use their bike and reduce overall car dependency.
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The location of the main - paved - pedestrian paths strongly depends on the programmatic distribution of the site. Wherever public functions and main building entrances are situated, the path follows the contour line of the buildings. However, where residential functions are located, the path is shifted away from the building facades for privacy reasons. For the primary paths a sandy colored concrete will be used as a reference to the sand surfaces typical for Lodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s current landscape. Additionally, some secondary - unpaved - paths can be found through the greenery.
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fig 9.9 Intersection of the bicycle path, primary and secundary pedestrian path.
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2. Stormwater Harvesting
stormwater inflow drainage pipe biofilter canal bioretention pond biofilter connection pipe
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As a result of the the increasing degree of urbanization of the coastal plain area, as well as the gradual depletion of natural water resources, water sensitive urban planning is gaining importance in Israel. Nevertheless, still vast amounts of rainwater go to waste every year as it flows into the sewage system with no further purpose. This project however aims to efficiently re-use stormwater (i.e. a collective term for all precipitation based water) by a system of biofilters implemented throughout the entire site. Surface runoff water, which picks up a variety of toxic substances when it flows over asphalted surfaces, will be collected by drainage pipes located along the contour lines of the street. From there the contaminated water will flow into multiple biofilters where the it will be purified by a series of chemical, physical and biological processes. (fig 9.12) Afterwards clean water can easily infiltrate the soil and nurture the surrounding vegetation. Similar projects have already been successfully implemented in Israeli cities Ramle and Bat Yam, where tested samples showed that 99,99 % of the pollutants were removed through the biofilter process. (Karen Kayemeth Lelsrael Jewish National Fund, 2015) In case of heavy rains, which occur regularly during winter season, the stormwater will flow towards two larger bioretention ponds on both ends of the site, which use the same purification principle as the biofilter canals. In fact they form an indispensable part of the proposed water recuperation scheme as they are able to reduce the risk of flooding and enlarge the capacity whenever it is needed. To prevent the biofilter canals from being waterless in dry season, they can also be used to purify contaminated water from neighbouring wells, acting as a natural dialysis of the aquifer. In addition to the functional benefits of this biofilter principle, the aquatic plants also contribute to the aesthetic qualities of the green axis.
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fig 9.10 Water filtering process in a biofilter canal.
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3. Indegenous Vegetation
bicycle path grass field grasses and shrubs trees
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The landscape of the green axis should be a reflection of the diverse vegetation that can be found in Lod and its surroundings. Grass and sand surfaces will be altered with impermeable grasses and shrubs to create open and more intimate zones, which can be used for various purposes. (see A Platform For Urban Activities) Rather than designing a constantly green oasis, the project values seasonal variations as an inherent quality of the landscape. Moreover, will these differences in bloom between wet and dry season create an ever changing landscape that contributes to the dynamics of the green axis. Still, to ensure sufficient diversity in color throughout the year, a mix of crops who remain green during summer and grasses who partly wither, will be planted throughout the site. It should be noted that due to the water recuperation system present on site, the vegetation here will likely remain green for a longer period of time than elsewhere in the city.
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In addition to the diverse low vegetation structures, a large number of trees with various density will be planted all over the green axis. Located along the main paths these will provide necessary shade for people wandering or biking through the site. The need for shade however strongly depends on the width of the landscape and surrounding building heights at a particular section. Therefore smaller trees with larger spacing will be used in more narrow sections, whereas wide canopy trees with smaller spacing will be planted in broader sections. Not only along the path, but also at the main transversal connections various trees can be found. Here, a denser pattern of trees will announce the upcoming intersection. Finally, wherever the green axis is in direct contact with the railway tracks (i.e. no building as a barrier) the density of trees and plants increases to efficiently buffer noises from the railway.
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fig 9.11 A selection of the diverse vegetation that can be found in Lod and its surroundings.
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fig 9.12 An impression of the green axis during wet season.
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fig 9.13 An impression of the green axis during dry season.
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4. A Platform For Urban Activities
bicycle path playground / sport facilities urban agriculture public orchard
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In order to become a vibrant axis throughout all moments of the day, the green axis should be home to a variety of activities. The distribution of these different activities throughout the landscape, will largely be dependent on the building program. Wherever residential units are located, recreational facilities such as a sports field or playground, will be provided. As experienced during our fieldwork, these places become gathering places for young and old, when the evening falls and temperatures are getting more bearable. The lack of agriculture within the heart of the city and the desire for Arab communities to have these nearby their residency, will be addressed by providing zones for urban agriculture. Although the harvest from these will mainly be used for personal purposes, it can also be sold to people passing through the site. Furthermore, a dense public orchard will create an agreeable outdoor climate and give employees of the different companies the opportunity to work or lunch outside whenever they want to. Spread across the green axis, small clusters of trees or furnished canopies will provide additional shaded areas where indoor activities can be brought outside. Besides, the green axis can be home to diverse temporary and spontaneous activities as well. Outdoor activities hosted by for example the community center can be held on one of the larger grass fields. Moreover, these open areas can also be used for celebrating one of the numerous holidays that are present in the Jewish and Arab culture.
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Image credits fig 1.1 The Lydda Death March - the Palestinians ‘Trail of Tears.’ (n.d.). Retrieved 21 March 2016, from http:// davidduke.com/israels-66th-birthday-deir-yassin/ fig 1.2 Aliyah. (n.d.). Retrieved 21 March 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliyah#/media/File:PikiWiki_Israel_20841_The_Palmach.jpg fig 2.1 Google Earth. (n.d.). Aerial photo Lod region. Lod, Israël (31°57’47’’N 34°57’04’’O). Retrieved from http://www.earth.google.com fig 3.4 Lod Municipality. (2014, February). Local masterplan - Lod. Major document Planning Policy.
fig 5.3 Lod Municipality. (2014, February). Local masterplan - Lod. Major document Planning Policy. fig 6.1 The Survey of Israel, Goverment agency for Mapping, Geodesy, Cadastre and Geoinformatics fig 6.2 The Survey of Israel, Goverment agency for Mapping, Geodesy, Cadastre and Geoinformatics. fig 6.3 Gis taldor Mapping Software. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gis4.taldor.co.il/lodnew/
fig 4.2 Scientific cacti illustration. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/6896205651395387/
fig 6.11 Jindas. (n.d.). Retrieved 20 August 2016, from http://www.jindas.org.il/
fig 4.3 Olive tree. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www. pinterest.com/pin/456341374726121357/
fig 6.13 Lod Municipality. (2014, February). Local masterplan - Lod. Major document Planning Policy.
fig 4.4 [View from Southwest, Lydda, Holy Land, (i.e. Israel)]. (n.d.). [photo, print, drawing]. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from https://www.loc.gov/item/2002725033/
fig 6.14 Gis taldor Mapping Software. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gis4.taldor.co.il/lodnew/
fig 4.6 Retrieved during fieldwork in Lod fig 4.9 Lydda--The Palestine R.R. Junction. (1932). [photo, print, drawing]. Retrieved 24 May 2016, from https://www.loc.gov/item/2002699229/ fig 4.10 The Nakba Obsession The Palestinian national narrative is the biggest obstacle to peace in the Middle East. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.city-journal.org/ html/nakba-obsession-13303.html
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fig 5.1 Lod Municipality. (2014, February). Local masterplan - Lod. Major document Planning Policy.
fig 6.15 Khosravi, H. (2014, May 23). Camp of Faith: On Political Theology and Urban Form. TU Delft, Delft. Retrieved from http://repository.tudelft. nl/islandora/object/uuid:75d19dc6-6e48-4d1b-a629b05fff6e8c37?collection=research (1.10) fig 7.2 Ayalon Highway blocked during floods. (n.d.). Retrieved 1 July 2016, from https://upload.wikimedia. org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Ayalon_highway_ blocked_during_floods.JPG
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fig 7.3 Ohana-Levi, N., Karnieli, A., Egozi, R., Givati, A., Peeters, A. (2015). Modeling the Effects of LandCover Change on Rainfall-Runoff Relationships in a Semiarid, Eastern Mediterranean Watershed, Modeling the Effects of Land-Cover Change on Rainfall-Runoff Relationships in a Semiarid, Eastern Mediterranean Watershed. Advances in Meteorology, Advances in Meteorology, 2015, 2015, e838070. http://doi. org/10.1155/2015/838070, 10.1155/2015/838070, 3,7 & 11.
fig 4.14 The Survey of Israel, Goverment agency for Mapping, Geodesy, Cadastre and Geoinformatics
fig 7.5 Gis taldor Mapping Software. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://gis4.taldor.co.il/lodnew/
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(n.d.). Retrieved 1 July 2016 from http://nebula.wsimg. com/obj/NDQ4MDAwRDQwODAwQjAxQjEwRTk6ZDU5NmQ1M2E0MDY4ZDQ1MTQ5YWM3MDhhMjU2NWE1Mzc6Ojo6OjA=
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Von Blittersdorff, R. Typha Domingensis. (2010, November 18). Retrieved 1 July 2016, from http://www. westafricanplants.senckenberg.de/images/pictures/typh_ typha_domingensis_rvbli9035_2_1606_628645.jpg
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fig 8.19 German Palms. (n.d.). Retrieved from https:// www.georgeglazer.com/archives/prints/botanical/images/ germanpalms-1a.jpg fig 8.20 Balrush Cyperus papyrus. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://img1.etsystatic.com/009/0/5229213/il _570xN.422813985_itxn.jpg fig 8.21 Tipuana tipu. (n.d.). Retrieved 21 July 2016, from https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipuana_tipu#/media/File:Tipuana_tipu_kedumim_2.JPG fig 8.22 Organic almonds sow hope in Palestine. (n.d.). Retrieved 21 July 2016, from https://www.theguardian. com/sustainable-business/2016/feb/12/organic-almondssow-hope-palestine-west-bank#img-1
Al-Ludd Lydda Lod: Landscapes for the In-between City
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Acknowledgements On behalf of the four of us, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the people who made this graduation project possible. Especially we would like to thank our promotors Ward Verbakel, Bruno De Meulder and Els Verbakel for guiding us throughout this year. Ward Verbakel for being an inspiring mentor who helped us effortlessly throughout the entire thesis project, always being able to motivate us. Bruno De Meulder for his intriguing notes and bright comments, getting the focus right at any moment. Els Verbakel for her hospitality and commitment during our fieldwork, offering us inside knowledge on the topic and for getting us in touch with several key figures in the area. In addition we would like to thank the municipality of Lod, in particular Ram and Nir, for providing us with a selection of indispensable city data. Andreas, Benjamin, Katrien & Oscar as Studio Lod
This thesis focusses on the city of Lod, located between the Jerusalem mountains and the Metropolitan Area of Tel Aviv. Lod, together with the cities of Haifa, Jaffa, Akko, Ramle, Nazareth-Illit and Ma’alot-Tarshiha, counts for an important part of the country’s Arab citizens. These contested cities are commonly referred to as ‘mixed’ cities in Israel. It should be noted that the term ‘mixed’ is highly problematic in this particular context as it implies coexistence whereas this is an expression merely based on population statistics. Today, as Arab population pressure rises, the social structure of Arab communities is changing and Israeli National Planning strongly limits possible urban expansion. Therefore alternative strategies and urban visions for the future development of this city are explored in individual research by design projects, in search of a new Levantine Urbanism.