Rawabi city analysis

rawabi city analysis the so called new palestinian modernized city..

introduction A planned city, a compact city, a utopian city for the P alestinians built by the P alestinians. is this really the case?

This report is an analytical report of the so called utopian city rawabi. rawabi is a private invested and the first ever planned city in palestine. this may sound like a dream but, in the contrary there are many controversial issues that have risen since Rawabi’s first stone was lied on the ground. H ere, in this report, we tried to include all the issues and reasons why rawabi was built the way it was, from the capitalist approach to the smallest and tiniest window in rawabi. All this to be able to conclude a vision of a collective housing that can bring life to rawabi, and provide a better future for the palestinians

the so called «utopian city» how was

rawabi born?

Rawabi is a «Palestinian» private invested city in the west bank by Bashar Al-Masri within his real-estate company Bayti. Bashar was backed up by International investors with his idea of this etopian city especially by Deyari Qatari billionare company who were behind making this city a reality. it all started with the oslo accords where the lands of the west bank were divided into 3 areas, A B and C. Rawabi is situated within Area A which is in total control of the Palestinian Authority but the acessible route to the city is through a road, which makes it vulnerable to any israeli controlled mobile restrictions as area C is completely controlled by the israeli governement.

a neoliberal approach

Rawabi isnt about money making, its about «nation building» economy Bashar al masri claims that rawabi provides opportunites for palestinians from the middle classes, and local palestinian offices and businesses. but in reality approximately all companies working in rawabi are owned by bashar, as in investing money back and forth from the same source.

social community

the need for palestinians to be seen the lack of spacious communal spaces due to the cluster of buildings, suffocating the city

exclusiveness Rawabi clearly fakes the inclusiveness due to its capitalist approach which attracts people to invest depending on their social and economical class

infrastructure investors swarming within the west bank competing over mass projects to build producing exclusive classes within the palestinian community

Due to it being plannedRawabi is the first palestinian city with great infrastrcture.

location rawabi is located within Ramallah and Al-bireh district within the west bank,

northen of birzeit and 9 km away from Ramallah.

It is situated on a compound of hills between multiple historical villages, such as Umm safa, the village that was taken to preform the illegal settlment of Ateret, Ajjul, Ebween, Qura Bani Zeid, Atara, Galgilia, Burham, and others seen in the map.

arora

Ministry of Local Government

nablus yafa

jilgia

abwein

Legend

Bound

Footp

Image

R

G

B

der elsudan

jerusalem

Rawabis location is a very strategic one due to it being situated near the economical and cultural capital of palestine (Ramallah) chosen by the palestinian autherity and to attract the biggest numbers of investors and buyers.

ajjul rawabi

atarah

rawabi ateret

illegal settlement

birzeit

birzeit ramallah

accessbility

birzeit jerusalem

Rawabi is acessed by 3 main roads, the one connecting it to Ramallah passes through Area C lands, which makes it vulnerable against any israeli lockdown decisions. The other two comes from the surrounding villages of Ajjul and Atarah, which makes the «city» within a very acessible site.

Ajjul road

ramallah

The network of streets pours within Rawabi, and is somewhat seen as dangeours due to the close approximity to C lands and the illegal settlement of Ateret.

Atarah road

Rawabi access road Notes

history Rawabi was planned by a private investor, but not on his private property.

The hills and lands of Rawabi were forcefully taken from Ajjul, Atara, Abwien villages through the law of acquisation for the public benefit, which is a low that investors and the Palestinian Authority chose, to justify the nvestments pursuit.

This law was an excuse to acquire the lands with as low as %25 of the original price of the land.

ABWIEN ajjul ATARAH

Mainly the Palestinians cities and villages uphold the spontaneous organic morphology, so it was rather unfamiliar to have a planned city from scratch with such organic surrounding villages. the lands acquired were not within the master plan of their original villages, and this made it easier for the investors to take advantage and acquise the lands.

ateret

‫استمالك قطع أرايض‬ ‫لغايات املنفعة العامة‬

ajjul

ATARAH

ABWIEN

The case of scatteration SCATTERED CITY

COMPACT CITY

hetrogeniouty of buildings flexible urban development bad infrastructure high transportation rate self-renewal dynamic

CLEAR IDENTITY

homogenous buildings planned urban development great infrastructure low transportation rate built all at one time chances of wrong are high static

the main problem of rawabi compact city is that it adresses quantity over quality.

history development 2006

2010

2012

2015

2021

ENCLAVE ENCLAVE through an

Rawabi is seen as an enclave of a homogenous «city» as opposed to its lets say container city, Ramallah, the heterogeneous city. As ramallah is an enclave of heterogenity surrounded by C israeli controlled lands, Rawabi is found to be another small enclave surrounded by C lands within the bigger enclave Ramallah. The only thing connecting both cities is through a narrow road within the C lands that can be easily closed by israeli polices any time to prevent entering, which enclaves people themselves both in and out of Rawabi The homo-hetrogeneity difference between Ramallah and Rawabi and the containment of Rawabi makes us feel like Rawabi is a neighborhood within, and not a self-sufficient city, as opposed to what the vision of the investors claim.

rawabi

recreational

ramallah

residential areaS

commercial

the planned configuration and topography of the land work together to develop a hemetric form, emphasizing the importance on the top, which is in this case, the international branded Q-center.

commercial

There is an aparant physical and in-tangible seperation between each Urban region in Rawabi. The lack of mixed use spaces, the little integration of local retail shops within the neighborhoods, and most importantly the lack of dependency of functions and regions of each other.

W ithin Ramallah, every region is an aspect of life with functions depending on each other and dissolving within the surroundings. Yes, It is a scattered city with disadvantages a scattered city can hold, but nevertheless a life-full city.

residential areaS

commercial

central business district

area of light industry

residential areaS commercial

commercial

upon asking a handful of Rawabi residents what they think their city lacks, An Important conclusion was made..

desirability vs feasibility 1. No public commmunal spaces 2.Lttle social spaces 3.q center is only for specific buyers 4.no local retail shops 5.no fundimental amenity shops

It is seen that the economic supply imposes the demands of the residents, which is a vast contributor into turning Rawabi into a ghost city.

1. tall buildings 2.build, then later decide the function 3.changes according to q-center investors 4.the restrictions put to residents to only chose the investors companies.

rawabi residents and governance claim safety and quietness, and uses those two concepts as strengths to their vision. but in reality, quietness is found due to the low number of people within the city regulary. And the security is found as people living in rawabi are all from the same social class.

«‫»ان ﺷﺎء ﷲ ﺑﺼﲑ ﻋﻨﺎ ﺿﻌﻂ ﺳﻴﺎرات ﻛﺎﰲ ﻋﺸﺎن ﳓﻂ اﺷﺎرات ﻣﺮور‬

«‫»ﻣﺸﺎﻛﻠﻨﺎ ﻣﺶ زي ﺎﺑﻗﻲ اﻟﺒﻠﺪﺎﻳت‬ growth of buildings, not people

HOAs

city governance RAWABi..live, work, grow

Q-center offices and work are exclusive

water is directly from mecrot water company and not from jerusalem water authority complaint about a dog in the neighborhood

road construction

«modernisation» of the palestinian landscape The investors of Rawabi had the vision of «modernising» the palestinian landscape as if the communal land system in Palestine was an old fashioned system that is out-dated and needs changing. This makes the idea designing Rawabi a whole self-oriantalist approach.

the capitalist approach in addition of the investors self-orientalism, Rawabi was designed by an American architecture and design company, to build a Palestinian city. This enhanced the idea of orientalism not just by the spaces created, but also by the typologies and the visual identity of Rawabi. Cultural elements where taken and forced within the context of Rawabi, as a way for Palestinians to supposedly find themselves and their identity.

STORY OF NAMING ‫درب اﻟﺒﻠﺪ‬

‫ﺣﻲ اﻛﺸﺎف‬

‫ﺣﻲ اﻟﻀﻠﻴﺎم‬

‫ﺣﻲ اﳌﻜﻤﺘﺔ‬

‫ﺣﻲ اﻟﻮروار‬

‫ﺣﻲ اﻟﺼﻮان‬

SMALL WINDOWS

CARVED IN STONE

‫ﺣﻲ ﺗﲑﺳﺎ‬

ARCHES

ENTRANCES

who owns the city? ‫ممنوع تزرع نعنع باب العامرة‬ !‫بدون اذن‬

A very important question is demanded, who owns the city? Usually, the city is owned by the people for the people. They shape their city and their city shapes them. In the case of Rawabi, It is found that this is not the case. Rawabi is owned by the investors, which restricts the community and is one of the main reasons the city is found to be a ghost city.

Rawabi claims that the tiled sidewalks are owned by the residents of the neighborhood.

But, upon asking residents if they can have some freedom with their landscaped spaces, it was seen that the concept of «keeping the image of the city» is taken way too far, literally restricting the public spaces.

This all contradicts their concepts of trying to build up a community, and the lack of communal spaces is also an added value for Rawabis residents to be incoherent. investor vs community

‫ شيكل عشان الصيانة‬٥ ‫دخولية املدرج‬

seasonal city This makes the city only alove during seasons of concerts, and shopping sprees for the elite.

‫ممنوع تسكروا الشارع عشان تعملو‬ !‫افطارات رمضانية‬

Bird eye or fish eye the influence of investing and marketing on design upon analysing the planning and design of rawabi, it was deducted that Rawabi was planned in bird view with no consideration of human scale or proportions, and this is seen in the arial views used to market the design and to decieve the buyer. sl «On a clear day, residents will be able to enjoy a panoramic view of the Mediterranean Sea forty kilometers away»

marketed pictures used by Acom and Rawabi

architectural analysis

general zoning there is a clear seperation between clustered functions in rawabi recreational residential

economical

also, the topography of rawabi starts from the hill and goes down with a slope of %8. And this has accompanied the design to reinforce the 130m seperation instead of counteracting it.

the only connection present is between the economical and residential zones Darb AL- B alad, which is a small green staircased space between buildings

those reasons, along with others has contributed to the seperation of the community, making the bonding of it nearly impossible. Also, this seperation has cause the recreational zone to be seasonal and only attract vistiors more than residents.

site

1700m

master plan zonning site extent 850,000 square meters

total site area 6,300,000

commercial

%12.3 residential appartment %34.5 %11.0 residential villas %4.0 public space %6.5 green spaces private car parking local retail

%1.0 %0.6

education facilities recreational facilities

%2.0 %3.5

it is found that there is no mixed use in the plan which contributes to the lack of community bonding

square meters

roads rawabi access road -ring road link road connector roads

parcels and morphology

elevations 53.86

first & second neighborhood

third & forth neighborhood

fifth & sixth neighborhood

So. upon .%45 Rawabi adopted Ramallahs conceptual regulations of building percentage being planning Rawabi, this was taken into account within a compact form of multiple residential with built up area. But this distribution of %30 buildings that made the residential block being buildings was not proportional and fair towards the highlighted apartments in terms of ventlation, .views, privacy, and sunlight

system of roads fifth and sixth neighboroods

site

centrlized common spaces

first and second neighborood darb el balad

linear distribution small common areas

cul-de-sac

government street

ramps

cul de sac neighborhood streets

public facilities

investors surplus results in buildings that are being built with no apparent function decided.

WADINA visitors lack sufficient parkings CLINIC

SCH OOL

supermarket & dry clean

Q -CENTER MOSQ UE

rawabi claims that it is acessible for local retail shops to open within the Q- center, but this is not true.

Neighborhoods

as apartments increase in height and neighborhood number, the lower the number of apartment buildings in the neighborhood, this is due to the fact that more apartments per building are created, hence less number of apartment buildings.

neighborhood 5

site 10 apartment buildings

neighborhood 6

14 apartment buildings

neighborhood 4

14 apartment buildings

neighborhood 3

14 apartment buildings

neighborhood 1

18 apartment buildings

22 apartment buildings

neighborhood 2

undecided function

orientalism and fascination of colonization neighborhood 1

linear form

suffocating

neighborhood 5

cluster form

more open space

6m

pocket gardens, and patchy buildings

seperate buildings, better harmony

Cul de Sacs

«no one can force to buy an apartment beside the mosque»

why not something more interactive?

«%100 parking efficiency»

interaction with topography

neighborhood 5

even though the buildings heights are higher than the first neoghborhoods, the sense of openness due to the morphology of the neighborhood is much better. and it is proportional to human feeling of space.

recessed from topography cut level

neighborhood 1

the building is attached to the topography cut

produces more openness to lower level apartments, sun light, and sense of space.

Al-Nuzha Street

Economical buildings low residential

ramallah Al-manara al-saa»a square in search of a similar structure and topography of the neighborhoods of Rawabi, Al-Nuzha street was chosen with 30m difference in height between Al-Nuzha street and Yafa street.

neighborhood 1 rawabi

160m

Al-Nuzha Yafa

56m

Al nuzha neighborhood is seen as more open than Rawabis, this is due to the large ratio betwween the rise and run of Al-Nuzha.

the hetrogeneity of functions and the difference in heights of the building typologies in al Nuzha neighborhood makes the space full of open scenic views, that even high commercial buildings do not choke the space.

mirror dimension mood of visual character it was observed uopn visiting rawabi that a mirror dmension is seen upon walking around the city, especially in the residential neighborhoods. this is due to the neglectance of the height and width proportions of buildings and open spaces in rawabi. This is all due to the fact that Rawabi was built by a birds eye, hence the human scale was not taken into account, and the city .chokes you most of the journey

building typologies The residential apartments in rawabi neighborhoods vary in size and hence vary in price. Currently, it is around �1200 per one meter, as opposed to 2015 where the price for one meter was there are three typlogies in the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th neighborhoods �600.

The first typology is on the edges of

the nighborhoods, within abandant open spaces, and it is the most popular among buyers. It is 120m2 and its is affordable, and its interior distribution of functions is good and there isnt any waste of space. The only problem is the lack of ventilation for the bathrooms.

The second typology is the most

different, it contains teracces at the bottom then stands out as a bulky apartment building. The concept of massing is to shape the city of being carved into the stone. It has a relatively good function distribution through the apartment and the massing produced good terraces and gardens. But the distribution to the private functions is through a corridor as opposed to the first typology. Also the entrance to the building is welocmed by a solid white wall.

the third typology is two buildings

connected by a central terrace. It forms the buildings into patched incomprehensible visual identity. It also very bulky and not suitable to the topography.

building typologies Those typologies differ, as the singular building includes 5 apartments per floor, differing is size as opposed to the previous buldings which contained 2 apartments per floor. those buildings obtain individual visual identity as one building. the circulation element through the building is exposed. The service rooms were moved to the outdoor cantilvered terrace, to maximise the use of the space efficiently.

loseen moon 79-184 m2

Mandoleen “a stringed “musical instrument

128 -183 m2

”nay” flute 62-144 m2

”Karmen” Beloved Chant 100-170 m2

is it a new typology?

openings service balcony frensh window

small windows

projected balcony with glass railing

small and hidden service area

m at e r i a l s In the first neighborhoods, white stone was chosen as a material for the facades. Then, by the time the 5th and 6th neighborhoods were also in the first neighborhoods, as they were developed by Aecom, small windows, castle like facades, and recessed balconies were designed, and the palestinian needs were not taken into account which enforces the orientalism in designing the first neighborhoods

established, grey colored stone was used from the same ground the buildings are erected on

entrances also in the first neighborhoods, as they were developed by Aecom, small windows, castle like facades, and recessed balconies were designed, and the palestinian needs were not taken into account which enforces the orientalism in designing the first neighborhoods

%99 of the residential buildings are not handicap friendly

With the ex crutiating similarity and repittion between buildings, residents have decided to color the doors of their buildings to be able to distinguish them

SUSTAINABILITY infrastructure and facilities

telecom infastructure

to preserve the clean visual identity, no trash cans were seen on site, as they all have special rooms in each apartment building and are collected

stone reuse

environmental analysis

Wastewater treatment, which involves disposing of sewage in an environmentally safe manner and even reusing it to serve the people with a high-quality service.

green spaces the only green area within the residential neighborhoods, and is only integrated with a couple of buildings is Darb Al-Balad.

our site

the green spaces are scattered around the landuse, and are not seen within the residential areas

very comfortable stairs nice and refreshing experience

green spaces decrease as we go down neighborhoods

but this green area is not proportional to the height and areas of the residential buildings, which makes it feel like a fabricated jungle and an oasis in a deserted city. also, it was blocked by the rental studio apartment building.

view of site

Views from residential buildings

a collective of all the architectural problems identified through studying the proportions of rawabi can be deducted by looking through the windows of the apartment buildings to fins the views

Social mapping it is found that there is no consideration to handicaps, and even with ramps present, the ratio is higher than 1:12

Social analysis tranquil or ghost twon?

neighbors

through examining Rawabi, it was seen that there are two types of residents, people who try to build a community and help the city, and introverts who prefer the ghost town approach.

«i dont know anyone..i live here alone and its better that way for me»

upon visiting a residential building in the 1st neighborhood, it was seen that 9 out of the 18 residential apartments had electrical bills hanged to their doors, some dated back to the end of 2021.

upon visiting rawabi in Ramadan, number of people seen upon visiting Rawabi in two weekdays, before and after Ftuur

WEDNESDAY 8:30 AM TO 4:30 PM 10 PEOPLE IN ALL RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS

THURSDAY 9:00 PM TO 11:00 PM 20 PEOPLE IN ONE RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS

13 PEOPLE IN Q-CENTER, EXCLUDING WORKERS

«of course i know my neighbors, this neighbor is from germany, and this neighbor is from the united states, our building has the most people living in it out of all rawabi, 6 apartments filled out of 18!»

is this your forever house? it was found by asking permenant residents that they feel like they entered their home only at their doorsteps.

yes no

neighbors also meet up through kids in the pocket gardens designed.

it was also seen that neighbors on the same level as the street interact more.

12000

statistical analysis

10000 8000 6000 4000 2000

Rawabi covers an area of %0.7 from the total area of

ramallah and al bireh, however the number of the residential apparment is %9.3 from the total ramallah and al bireh appartment

A google form statistical analysis was conducted, with 2 8 people scattered from Atara, Ebwein, Ajjul asking them multiple q uestions and demanding their opinion of Rawabi.

The following results were obtained

0

employer regular wage employee

atarah 52.2% abwien 17.4%

self employed irregular wage employee

ajjul 30.4%

unpaid family member

Population density

fro rawabi and surrounded villages 4.0 3.5

Population density fro rawabi and ramallah city 25.0

why did you go to rawabi?

20.0

3.0 2.5

15.0

entertainment

10.0

work

2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0

5.0 ajjul attarah

abwien

rawabi

in assumption that only half of the expected residency

0.0

rawabi ramallah

in assumption that all the expcted residency

80-120 m2

less than 1

120-160 m2

1-2 person

160-200 m2 +200 m2

2-3 person

Favoured apartment areas by Ramallah residents statical analysis

more than 3

people occupancy in one room

Within the surrounding villages, we asked residents what are the form of the village center, and the answers were open public social spaces, gardens, water springs, or old historical buildings. In Rawabi the city center is an international economic center that limits the users to a specific social class, and is not at all inclusive.

Upon asking the surrounding residents what their village and rawabi lacks, it was seen that the need for inclusive economic retail shops, open parks and social spaces is very important. B ut what makes a city flourish is the dependency of light industrial functions such as carpentary, blacksmiths, tailor shops, uphoistery, building material stores, plumbing workshops, and similar functional spaces.

our Vision

WE

depend

on each other,

a city cannot ever be coherent without the dependency of the residents on one another. wether in social, career wise, or even a person depending on their door to door neighbor. Our vision is to produce a community that can depend to produce.

Rawabi’s city lacks the fundamental light industrial and local production careers that can hold the community of rawabi together, and even with the surrounding communities. Our vision focuses on shaping to build , not building to shape. cities should be shaped by their residents and not the contrary. hence we hope in our vision to provide the sustainable and adequate forms of functions that can bring rawabi to life. we hope to establish a new center of rawabi that connects the two surrounding residential and recreational zones, as those zones are clearly separated. Our new center would be able to provide production and great and affordable living conditions.

We would also hope to integrate the recreational zone with our site in order to develop a walkable neighborhood gallery to make the city permanent, and not seasonal.

a sequence of one another, to

produce for all.

�

recreational

residential

preliminary program residential appartment

%35

green public spaces light industry warehouse

%10 %20 %5

circulation

%30

landscape construction smart houses integration with Q center ceramic factory

glass production

smithy pipes prefabrication fabric making

building tools store Mechanic workers

stone carving

carpentary furniture upholstery

lighting store

references Rawabi authors site visit includes residents and workers interviews, site pictures, and interviewing Eng, micheal jabareen and Eng. Shifa Salah www.rawabi.ps https://narratively.com/building-a-future-for-palestine/ Rawabi: The First Planned Palestinian City, Colonizing the Hill Tops of the West Bank By leen Jabri The Palestinian M iddle Class in Rawabi: Depoliticizing the Occupation by Tina Grandinetti Housing Cooperatives in tHe palestinian territories:Development and current practice by shadi ghadban Housing and Generality in Palestine Studies by kareem rabie