Engineer of Jerusalem: “Without Urban Renewal in the Haredi Sector, It Will Be Difficult to Provide Public Spaces”

Jerusalem’s city engineer warns that without large-scale urban renewal in Haredi neighborhoods, the city will struggle to provide adequate public spaces and educational facilities. Speaking against the backdrop of a recent tragedy that once again highlighted the shortage of regulated institutions, he emphasized that fragmented, building-by-building renewal is not enough, and that comprehensive Pinui-Binui projects are essential to meet the city’s growing needs.

The remarks were made yesterday (Wednesday) by Eng. Yoel Even, Jerusalem’s City Engineer, at the “Jerusalem’s Future Plans” conference organized by Nadlan Center, following the disaster that struck the city earlier this week, once again brought to the forefront the severe shortage of educational institutions in the Haredi community. On the self-licensing reform, he said: “I’m somewhat concerned about self-licensing. We need to see that developers understand what we want, and it’s important that the dialogue with us is maintained.”

“If we are unable to create solutions of high-rise construction within the Haredi population, it will be difficult to generate public spaces there at a high level,” said Jerusalem City Engineer Yoel Even yesterday during the “Jerusalem’s Future Plans” conference held by Nadlan Center at the International Convention Center in Jerusalem. His remarks were made in an interview with Nadlan Center editor Nimrod Buso, in which he was asked whether the current model of urban renewal at the level of individual buildings—characteristic of Haredi neighborhoods—does not, in fact, exacerbate the already severe shortage of public spaces in those areas. This was said against the background of the tragedy that occurred this week, in which two infants died in an illegal daycare that operated in a residential apartment.

At the same time, Even noted that “there are already initial stages of urban renewal in Haredi areas. We are sitting down with the community, and I hope we will succeed in creating more public spaces. More needs to be created, and the emphasis must be on block-scale development, because that is the real solution to these problems.”

Referring again to the tragic event, Even said: “This is a very heavy disaster. The shortage of public spaces does not exist only in one population or another in the city; it is a citywide problem in a developing city that must be addressed. We are also working with the Haredi community on block-scale evacuation-rebuild projects to create more areas designated for proper educational institutions. We strongly encourage broad urban renewal rather than focusing on just one or two buildings to generate more public spaces. Recently, all public construction was transferred to my department, a deputy was appointed for the issue, and he is responsible for coordinating all public construction divisions.”

Even also addressed the first pilot for implementing the “Authorized Permit Holder” reform in the city, explaining why the reform has not yet been implemented in Jerusalem: “I’m a bit concerned about self-licensing. Ultimately, it works well when there is a tightly closed zoning plan, and when reaching the permit stage, everything is clear. If self-licensing is allowed in the city, we want to ensure developers understand what we want, and that the dialogue with them is very important.

“We told the developer promoting this today that self-licensing will come only after we have said everything we need to say, so that at the permit stage it will be possible to move forward independently. In Jerusalem, I ask that anyone who wants to do self-licensing speak with us already at the very beginning of the process. We don’t block projects, but it’s important to us that the dialogue with us is maintained.”

When asked whether, in light of the high supply in the city, there are developers who are “dragging their feet,” he replied: “We want to reduce prices, and the pace of planning and issuing permits also reflects demand. In recent years, 8,500 building permits have been issued here as part of urban renewal. The developers and us work hand in hand. When a zoning plan is approaching approval, we are the ones who initiate the first phone call to the developers. They come to us for a meeting and to begin the process, and afterwards, we hold ongoing follow-up meetings.

“Zoning plans that are ultimately approved do receive building permits. When I entered the role, I was told there were tens of thousands of approved units without permits. Today, after the change and ongoing follow-up, we are reaching a situation where everything is being realized.”