Urban Tailoring
Modernist urban planning has shaped the community structure, lifestyle, and urban fabric in new neighborhoods being built across Israel. Ashdod serves as a case study due to its complete design following this approach. The core issue examined is how this planning, based on functional separation of residential, industrial, and commercial zones, with a focus on private vehicle traffic and their segregation from residential neighborhoods, has affected social interactions and accessibility between the various quarters of the city. The research explores whether and how the current situation can be improved through a redesign that emphasizes urban connectivity, walkability, and efficient public transportation, while preserving environmental values and promoting sustainable social and economic development.
This project investigates how disconnected neighborhoods can be “stitched” together and how to bridge the gap between neighborhood qualities and the infrastructure that separates them.
The original planning of Ashdod in the 1950s and 1960s was influenced by modernist trends, particularly the concepts of Le Corbusier, which advocated a functional separation between residential, industrial and commercial zones, and the integration of new technology. The city was divided into isolated residential quarters, with wide, straight transportation routes designed for fast traffic. These routes, separated by green, non-functional elements for the main road users, prioritized the convenience of private vehicles. This separation of uses and the planning of the city around private vehicles created a disconnect between neighborhoods, impacting community life and social interactions in the city. Despite promises to design neighborhoods that would provide all basic needs, in practice, additional needs such as work, leisure, and culture are inadequately supplied within the neighborhood, limit the residents and require them to rely on private vehicles.
The main argument is that construction based on Le Corbusier’s modernist model, which prioritizes private vehicles and creates isolated neighborhoods, no longer suits the current needs of the city and its residents. Based on a number of theorists from Israel and around the world, the project proposes creating continuity and overlapping between neighborhoods, offering democratic choices and accessible services for all the city’s residents, to enhance community life and interactions.
The project proposes creating a vibrant linear urban quarter along a main city axis that connects many neighborhoods. This main artery would be able to serve as the main axis of the existing neighborhoods and would revitalize them. The design strategy includes reducing lanes for private vehicles and relying on a future mass transit system. It also involves adding housing, employment, and commercial spaces at the suitable density level, and utilizing unused land like roads and buffer zones. Its focus is on creating connections between public and commercial buildings, and walkability between neighborhoods, while introducing new public programs and open spaces for activities.
