Urban Planning Visions For Palestine
The RAND Corporation's Arc project, developed in concert with Suisman Urban Design, is a sweeping infrastructure plan for a prospective Palestinian state. Following the curved mountain ridge of the West Bank, the Arc establishes a national corridor that would provide swift rail service, roadway, water, power, and parkland for the main Palestinian towns and cities. The corridor - and its lateral branches within each city - would enable the new state to accommodate a fast-growing population by expanding urban neighborhoods and housing stock in a coherent and sustainable manner. This would allow private investment and international aid to be efficiently directed towards an integrated national space, rather than towards a costly array of scattered and disconnected projects.
As part of collection of studies conducted under the auspices of the RAND Corporation’s Center for Middle East Public Policy, the Palestinian Arc study has by far received the most notoriety and broad acceptance from Palestinians, Israelis, Europeans, Americans, and across the Middle East. The Palestinian Arc is an urban planning concept that was devised, in concert with the Palestinian Authority, as the physical foundation for Palestine’s long-term economic and social success. The Arc’s principles of sustainable development are reflected in Prime Minister Fayyad’s current planning for statehood. The Arc is based on RAND’s comprehensive assessment of Palestinian statehood, including its governance, internal security, demography, water, health, education and economy.
RAND has estimated that building the core elements of the Arc (the rail, road, and transport infrastructure) would cost about $8 billion. It would generate up to 160,000 jobs per year over five years in sectors like engineering and construction, where the Palestinian workforce is already strong. These projects would stimulate a range of associated economic activities throughout the region.
In October 2010, the Arc won "Best Masterplan" and "Future Project of the Year" at the 2010 World Architecture Festival.
Read more about this topic: Proposals For A Palestinian State
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