Between Heaven and Earth; Between the Eternal and the Contemporary: The Future of the Jerusalem Cityscape

Jerusalem’s image is world renown. Since ancient times, its utopian-imagery and actual-realistic image wear a physical-material appearance. The concern with the image of historic cities is reinforced especially following urban fabrics destruction, and the tension between their preservation and development is perceived as threatening to their integrity. Facing powerful processes of high intensity growth, Jerusalem of the third millennium is changing rapidly. Dilemmas concerning the cityscape are accompanied by the loss of balance threatening its cultural values. Thus, a proactive approach is needed to avoid irreversible damage. The presentation will discuss the challenges Jerusalem faces today. By illustrating past institutional and civil-society initiatives it will focus on current innovative practices trying to achieve the balance necessary for the eternal-living city. This apparent oxymoron lies at the base of the question relating to Jerusalem’s future transformation as it becomes one of Israel's largest metropolises. At the end of 2022 a new forum was founded to discuss the city densification, mainly manifested by rising towers throughout the cityscape. Started as a thinktank by concerned citizens they were joined by just as concerned municipal and governmental representatives, civil society, and academia, thus forming an experimental framework for new tools to deal with the challenge of new development that would not compromise the city’s values. Led by the Historic Urban Landscapes approach, the forum targeted specific themes including community, identity and infrastructure which were set against various scales of the city, its neighborhoods, and its building-blocks. Constructing trust between the concerned parties gave way to serious discussion, proposing innovative solutions to ensure both quality of life for today’s citizens, and the city’s historic and global image. This forum initiative may be added to other case studies of the implementation of UNESCO HUL Recommendation and can serve as an exemplar to other local initiatives.