Impact of Urbanization on Land Use and Local Communities in the West Bank the Project Final Workshop
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Impact of Urbanization on Land Use and Local Communities in the West Bank The project Final workshop Technical Report On the August 8, 2004 the project final workshop was held in Ramallah under the auspices of his Excellency Mr. Jamal Al-Shubaki the Minister of the Ministry of Local Government (MoLG). The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ) project staff has prepared and conducted the workshop in full cooperation with MolG specialists. The president of ARIJ’s board of trustees Mr. Daoud Estanbuli has opened the workshop and welcomed the Minister as well as the workshop attendees who came from different Ministries, municipalities, village councils, NGOs, universities and private planners. His Excellency Mr. Jamal Al-Shubaki talked about the importance of the conducted project and emphasized to utilize and benefit from the project finding and outputs for mid and long-term urban planning in Palestine. He was proud about the fruitful cooperation created between ARIJ and MoLG during the project period. Afterwards, Dr Jad Isaac gave a brief description about the project objectives, activities and outputs. Dr. Isaac has focused on the impact of the ‘Israelization’ of Palestinian Territories through the construction of Israeli colonies, Separation Wall, and closed military areas on the Palestinian open space, urbanization trend and the sustainability of natural resources. Miss Sophia Saad has presented the obtained results of land use analysis and the Palestinian urban patterns development and Israeli colonization activities in the West Bank. Furthermore, Mr. Nader Hrimat gave a brief description of the obtained results and recommendations for the conducted socioeconomic survey in the Palestinian communities. The project developed scenarios for future urban development and its impact on the sustainability of natural resources and future planning perspectives in addition to the project results, conclusions and recommendations were presented by Dr. Nael Salman. During the last session of the workshop an open discussion took place through which the 30 different engineers, planners and specialists were given the opportunity to discuss and comment on the project conducted activities and obtained results. All participants’ recommendations and comments were recorded and included in the project final book. Acknowledgment The Applied Research Institute – Jerusalem (ARIJ) hereby expresses its sincere appreciation and thanks for the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) for the continuous support and feedback throughout the different phases of the project “Impact of Urbanization on Land use and local communities in the West Bank”. Special thanks go to Dr. Pamela Scholey, Team Leader at IDRC, Canada, for her continuous support and invaluable inputs throughout this project. ARIJ is also grateful to the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government (MoLG) for facilitating the process of surveying the data of master plans in the municipalities and village councils of the West Bank Governorates. Thanks are extended to MoLG Minister, Mr. Jamal Al-Shubaki, and the community leaders for their support and cooperation. Thanks to Dr. Sari Hanafi for his contribution in building the human resources capacities at ARIJ in socioeconomic survey and analysis. Special credit is herein given to Basima Fuqaha, Ala’ Ismael, Suma Al-Juhari, Ahmed Fathi, Ezz Al-Demis and Najeh Bani Odeh for their assistance in completing the socioeconomic survey of this work in the northern West Bank Governorates. ARIJ welcomes any comments or suggestions regarding the material published herei, and reserves all copyrights for this publication. Copyright © Applied Research Institute - Jerusalem (ARIJ) P.O.Box 860, Caritas Street Bethlehem, Palestine Telfax: +970-2-2741889 Internet: www.arij.org xii 1 Chapter One Introduction 1.1 Background he West Bank covers an area of approximately 5661 km2. The territory is bordered T on the east by the Jordan River and on the north, south and west by Israel, see Map 1-1 By the end of 1997, the total population of Palestinians in the West Bank, including those living in East Jerusalem was approximately 1.9 million (PCBS, 1997). The West Bank has been subjected to a unique developmental plan, which has impacted on every aspect of the socioeconomic fabric. It is important to outline the political changes of the past century at the outset, so as to place the socioeconomic and physical findings of this research in their historical and political context. During the last century, the administrative boundaries of the West Bank were reshaped several times by the powers that ruled Palestine, the Ottoman Empire, the British Mandate, the Jordanian Rule and the Israeli Occupation and latest, the Palestinian National Authority (PNA). The recent administrative boundaries of the West Bank are defined according to the divisions set by the PNA after 1993. Accordingly, a number of 11 Palestinian Governorates (districts) today comprise the administrative divisions of the West Bank where the Palestinian Governorates were named after the main cities located in each one. The Palestinian Ministry of Planning (MOP) defined the main cities as regional urban centers of the Governorates according to their functions, the urban services and social infrastructure facilities they contain and the role they play in relation to the surrounding Palestinian communities and to each other. The Palestinian Governorates in the West Bank are: Jenin, Tulkarm, Nablus, Qalqiliya, Tubas, Salfit, Ramallah and Al Bireh, Jericho, East Jerusalem, Bethlehem, and Hebron. 1 Map 1-1: Palestine within the current regional context 2 During the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations that took place in Oslo in 1993, a first step agreement was reached by both sides in which Israel, the occupying power, agreed to withdraw its military forces from certain Palestinian areas including Gaza. However, the Oslo agreement divided the West Bank into three areas as follows, see Map 1-2: 1. Zone A (Area A): in which the PNA has full control. This zone includes the main urban areas in the West Bank such as the Palestinian main cities namely Jenin, Tulkarm, Qalqiliya, Salfit, Nablus, Tubas, Ramallah, Al-Bireh, Jericho and Bethlehem in addition to towns such as Beit Jala and Al Yamun. Hebron City was subject to a special agreement according to Taba Agreement in 1995. It was divided into two areas of different control called H1 and H2. Area H1 is considered as part of Area A, while an area housing approximately 500 Israeli settlers became Area H2 and was put under the full control of Israel. Area A initially amounted to 3% of the land in the West Bank. After the implementation of Sharm Esh-Sheikh memorandum in 2000, Area A was extended to cover about 18% of the West Bank area. 2. Zone B (Area B): which is under Palestinian civil administration but under Israeli security control comprises most of the Palestinian populated towns, villages and camps. After the implementation of Sharm Esh-Sheikh memorandum, Area B covered 22% of the West Bank area. 3. Zone C (Area C): to stay under full Israeli control until further agreements are reached. This zone includes the rest of the Palestinian Occupied Territories in the West Bank, which includes smaller and remote villages, Palestinian agricultural lands and open spaces, Israeli settlements and military sites. Area C covered 60% of the West Bank area after the implementation of Sharm Esh-Sheikh memorandum in year 2000. 3 Map 1-2: Geopolitical map of the West Bank 4 1.2 Study objectives The division of Palestinian lands into areas A, B, and C has produced two different and parallel planning schemes: one Israeli, to serve the Israeli colonists living in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the other Palestinian, to serve the Palestinian people. The plans of the Israeli Authority have systematically hindered the development of the Palestinians and damaged the environment in the process. All these practices have created a geographical discontinuity at the lands under the Palestinian control. This discontinuity has resulted in a major physical impediment towards accomplishing sustainable development in Palestine. Confiscation of land under various pretexts such as the construction of settlements and erection of the segregation zones from Palestinians living in the West Bank has imposed enormous limitations on Palestinian built up areas and significantly has raised the population density. Therefore, the lack of control over planning and implementation, and the fact that the occupation power neglected the development of Palestine for over 35 years, has led to the deterioration of urban areas and the delivery of low standard of services where the development of urban and rural areas has been unrealistically restricted. Such restriction was accompanied by unlicensed and unplanned construction and has resulted in urban sprawl and misuse of valuable agricultural land. In addition, urban expansion associated with the encroachment on agricultural and grazing land created additional pressure on the environment and natural resources and limited the possibilities for sustainable development. Therefore, the project’s goal converted into its output shows the recent urbanization trends and their impacts on Palestinian local communities. The project’s output will however assist Palestinian planners and policy makers to develop comprehensive long-term strategies for future urban development and for the sustainable management of land and natural resources in the West Bank. The overall objective