Chiodelli F. (2012), “The Jerusalem Master Plan: Planning into the Conflict”, Jerusalem Quarterly, 51: 5-20
This paper investigates the Jerusalem Master Plan with reference to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over Jerusalem. The Jerusalem Master Plan is the first comprehensive plan for the “whole” city (both the western and the eastern parts): for the first time, the comprehensive spatial vision of Jerusalem in the twenty-first century that the Israeli authorities aim to realize is clearly expressed. In particular, the paper focuses on the theme of housing: it analyses in detail the contents of the master plan, showing the different treatment of the Arab and Jewish populations, and it reflects on the chances the different aspects of the plan have of being implemented. It is argued that the master plan is an integral part of a forty-year Israeli urban strategy concerning Jerusalem, aimed at encouraging Jewish residential settlement in the eastern part of the city (even if it presents some elements of discontinuity that are worth underlining).