Equity and Resilience for South Tel Aviv-Yafo

The Urban Design Studio examined regional histories and explored future resilience and adaptation scenarios for the south of Tel Aviv-Yafo, an area segregated by urban heat, pollution, and insecurity. The studio sought to develop spatial design concepts that strengthen the southern neighborhoods’ social, economic, and ecological capital. Existing spatial inequities manifested in both physical urban infrastructure—in the form of congested elevated highways and failing buried storm-water pipes, and in policies and lack of services—from inadequate child care to insufficient social services.

The neighborhoods’ historic urban fabric nonetheless offers unique opportunities not found in the northern and more affluent areas of the city, and the vibrant and diverse communities have an iconic and lively character. The studio developed site-specific proposals to address these pressures and challenges, and advance and spatialize resilient urban design in each context. While building on site-specific assets and opportunities, the four strategic proposals are pilot ideas which could potentially be expanded along the north-south line dividing the city. The neighborhoods of Neve Sha’anan, Shapira, Hatikva, and Ezra line Tel Aviv-Yafo’s north-south divide. The city of Bat Yam, just south of Tel Aviv-Yafo, presents a different set of challenges and opportunities.