| Revision as of 07:50, 1 October 2009 editChicagopalestine (talk | contribs)6 editsNo edit summary← Previous edit | Revision as of 07:51, 1 October 2009 edit undoChicagopalestine (talk | contribs)6 editsNo edit summaryNext edit → | ||
| Line 31: | Line 31: | ||
| http://www.rawabi.ps/ | |||
| ] | |||
Revision as of 07:51, 1 October 2009
Rawabi 101
Groundbreaking for Rawabi, the first Palestinian planned city, is scheduled for late 2009. The city, located between Ramallah and Nablus, will offer affordable housing and ultimately become home to 40,000 Palestinians in 5,000 housing units. This will be the first, striding step forward in combatting Palestine’s acute housing shortage problem.
Rawabi’s master planners have created a seamless integration of residential neighborhoods, a vibrant city center, and primary and secondary health care services. Moreover, public services – including schools, municipal offices, and police and fire stations – will be dispersed throughout the city.
Rawabi’s City Center, which occupies the highest elevation of the site and is designed to be both ICT-enabled and pedestrian-friendly, includes office buildings, restaurants and retail shops, banks, and services, as well as a hotel, movie theater, cultural center and other amenities. Mid-rise multi-family residential buildings and townhouses spread out from the center and are interconnected with public and private green spaces, parks and playgrounds.
Education and healthcare facilities, mosques, and churches are distributed throughout the city, which will serve not only the Rawabi community, but also some 50,000 residents of the nearby villages. There will be accessible public transportation within Rawabi and to the region and cities beyond.
The master plan also incorporates environmentally responsible development practices, calculated responses to local climatic conditions, efficient resource utilization, and alternative energy sources, with the intent of making Rawabi a model for “green” Palestinian cities of the future.
Partnerships
Taking on a development project of this scale – one never before seen in Palestine – demands a comprehensive approach, thus necessitating partnership with others in the field.
Bayti Real Estate Development Company, Rawabi’s developer, was created as a joint venture between Doha-based Qatari Diar Real Estate Development Company and Ramallah-based Massar International. The project was then propelled into motion through an investment from Qatar numbering in the hundreds of millions.
Through the various stages of planning, Bayti has enlisted the help of external firms and experts. The local team has enjoyed fruitful partnerships with renowned architecture, engineering and development firm AECOM, leading research institute RTI International, and experts from Palestinian universities.
Governmental support has also been secured through a public-private partnership between Bayti and the Palestinian Authority. In a Memorandum of Understanding, the latter committed itself to financially supporting Rawabi’s offsite infrastructure and public services, in line with the Palestinian Reform and Development Plan (PRDP).
Economic Impact
Rawabi will have a highly tangible impact on the Palestinian economy, as it will reduce the West Bank’s chronically high unemployment levels by creating an estimated 8,000-10,000 jobs during the active construction phases – expected to take place over a five-year period. Moreover, between 3,000 and 5,000 new, long-term job opportunities will be generated in the city after construction is complete, thus taking advantage of and being beneficial to the highly educated but underemployed Palestinian workforce.
]