Concepts of linear city for the urban re-development of Gaza, Palestine

Abstract

Urban planning remained until the mid-19th century limited to roads and squares construction, tree plantation and organization of buildings facades. By the turn of the 20th century, urban planning witnessed great development with the efforts of the first pioneers and the development of planning theories, one of which was the Linear City theory of Soria Y Mata. This theory was then developed further by the theory of Polycentric Linear City and the theory of Gauthier Linear Vertical City. Urban planning was first established in Palestine during the first quarter of the 2oth century by the British Mandate occupation authorities. It was limited to the regulatory framework aimed at the control of Palestinians’ use of their land. These regulations were not accompanied by a renaissance in the urban culture that was developing in Europe at the start of the 20th century. The end of the British mandate and the establishment of Israel in 1948 did not provide any chance for any development of the urban culture and planning practices in Palestine. The problem continued under the Israeli occupation of West Bank and Gaza in 1967. A serious attempt to rebuild a developed Palestinian urban planning system started in 1996 with the cooperation program between the Palestinian National Authority and the Norwegian government. The first regional plan was prepared for the Gaza Strip in addition to a structure plan for the city of Gaza. The regional plan favored a spatial strategy with two main cities, Gaza in the north and Khanunis in the south. This strategy overrides the geographic, demographic, and urban conditions prevailing in Gaza, which is only a small narrow linear of land overcrowded with around 1.5 million populations. This research investigates Gauthier Linear Vertical City theory and employs it to provide innovative solutions for the urban development in Gaza. This research was prepared before the barbaric Israeli wat on Gaza which started in October 2023 and continue during the preparation of the article for this conference. Hope never has been lost that Gaza will rise again like phoenix and this research will find a way to enlighten urban thinking for the development of Gaza.