During my studies at the Technion’s Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, I led research projects exploring the intersection of urban design, community, and spatial justice — with a focus on underserved, culturally rich areas.
This project was submitted to the "Israel 2048" competition and presents an alternative vision for the urban regeneration of Neve Paz – one of Haifa’s most marginalized neighborhoods. Characterized by deteriorating housing, socio-economic challenges, and years of planning neglect, the neighborhood demands a sensitive and holistic approach.
The proposed plan was developed from a deeply contextual understanding of the existing urban fabric. It aims to revive the central street as a vibrant public space and restore a sense of belonging among residents. The proposal incorporates a careful analysis of the neighborhood’s built environment and social dynamics, offering planning solutions rooted in new housing typologies, conservation and infill strategies, and a network of shared public spaces.
The project envisions an urban infrastructure that promotes community recovery—not only through physical and economic improvement, but by re-integrating residents into the evolving fabric of their neighborhood. It emphasizes the connection between social planning and spatial design, through the creation of a renewed main street, modular residential models, and transitions between private and public realms.
Ultimately, the project conveys a clear message about the responsibility of architectural planning to serve the social fabric it inhabits—and about the transformative potential that exists even in neighborhoods long overlooked.
This graduation project, developed at the Technion’s Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, explored a socially driven approach to urban renewal in Ajami – a historically Arab neighborhood in Jaffa facing gentrification and displacement pressures.
Grounded in a multidisciplinary methodology, the project combined historical and spatial analysis, community mapping, and socioeconomic profiling. It critically examined existing planning mechanisms that fail to protect vulnerable populations and proposed an alternative model of regeneration rooted in equity and continuity.
The proposal introduced a new framework of “community preservation,” which redefines conservation beyond buildings to include people, memory, and belonging. Key strategies included:
– Allocating building rights to long-standing residents
– Retrofitting existing housing instead of demolishing it
– Designing inclusive public spaces that reflect the neighborhood’s identity
– Integrating education, employment, and cultural infrastructure into the urban fabric
Rather than erasing the past, the project envisioned a future that sustains it – where planning becomes a tool for strengthening social cohesion and protecting the right to remain. The project received wide acclaim and was presented to invited professionals and academic reviewers.