More on the Tel Aviv Master Plan

Halfway through his third term in power, Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai is promoting his most ambitious project yet: an ambitious master plan, meant to guide the city’s explosive development over the coming decades. The magnitude of the plan is difficult to overstate; the mayor himself has described it as a “constitution” for the city. Yet, try Googling the master plan and you’ll find almost nothing. Amazingly, despite the enormous impact it is expected to have on the city, the plan has yet to be released to the public in full.

While some information about the contents of the plan is buried deep inside the municipality’s website, the city’s well-oiled PR machine has made no serious effort to bring it to the attention of the general public.

The map on the left however reveals quite a lot. It displays height planning for the city, showing the location of upcoming high rises in dark and evidencing how the plan will transform the city’s skyline beyond recognition. Just click on the map to display the full size version.

While low skylines will be preserved in the centre of town and in parts of Jaffa, areas east of the city center would be transformed into a forest of skyscrapers. In a victory for real estate interests over long-standing opposition by residents, the plan would also allow for extensive high-rise construction in the south of the city, creating multiple corridors of office and residential towers, which would hover awkwardly above existing low-rise neighbourhoods.