Everything Happens in the Desert – Landscape Planning for Regionality and Settlement in the Arava

“A voice of one calling: In the wilderness prepare the way for the Lord, make straight in the desert, a highway for our God.” Isaiah 40:3.

In an era when the Zionist enterprise faces its greatest challenge, the Arava region embodies the ethos of border preservation, settlement, and desert reclamation in its purest form. The State of Israel, including Eilot Regional Council, stands at a critical crossroads: on one hand, tremendous developmental momentum and an opportunity to strengthen and expand the communities in the Arava based on these values. On the other hand, an acute need to preserve the last remaining pristine open spaces in Israel—namely, the Negev and lands of the Arava. How can we reconcile this fundamental conflict between preserving the primordial and strengthening infrastructure? This can be achieved by integrating new planning paradigms with existing values in the physical, social, and economic landscape of the Eilot region, such as environmental education, renewable energy usage, and desert tourism. The new planning principles are derived from the “Spatial Strategic Plan 2050,” formulated as a conceptual model for strategic planning for rural settlements by the Israeli Planning Administration. The “Everything Happens in the Desert” project serves as a first attempt to express these ideas in landscape planning that is connected to a specific environment and specific users. At the heart of this planning are the regional council and Kibbutz Yotvata, which together will provide a platform for creating new social, economic, cultural, and human opportunities. The planned railway to Eilat, despite the risks, will facilitate this leap by improving accessibility to this region. Ecological corridors and pathways will be woven into the region, based on ancient, existing, and restored flow channels, collectively creating the human and natural network that will dictate the development of the area.