We have assumed, that despite the difficult historical conditions, both sides of the conflict will get to a peaceful solution and Jerusalem will become the capital of two independent states – Palestine and Israel.
Inspired by the “Bridge over the Wadi” school we have made the assumption that it was not big scale projects and political agreements but the range of small activities at neighbourhood or street level that could help make peace happen. As the peace process is not only a political issue but also social, economic and geographic, the long term activities towards building the civil society seem to be of the biggest importance. The strong communities will guarantee the success of any activity aiming at improving the quality of life in Jerusalem.
We are of the opinion that good quality public spaces can considerably change the way people move, live and think. It is crucial to find places throughout the city where urban design issues occur and select the ones where change has to be applied first. We developed a theoretical model of the city that would help us to analyse the city, to find the potential problems and finally to apply the appropriate urban design solutions.
We defined the city as a set of overlaying scripts continuously written by its inhabitants. Every person creates their own maps of everyday activities. Every script is composed of points and links. Improving the different links and points throughout the city with a special consideration of their density, hierarchy and also timing is crucial to make a long-lasting change at every level of scale.
The project concept is to “button up” the city with a range of smaller and bigger urban design projects and create a platform so all inhabitants of Jerusalem could contribute to a peaceful, united and friendly city.
