(In Hebrew)
Channel One’s Yoman reports on the struggle by residents of Florentine, a neighborhood in south Tel Aviv, against the city’s building plans in the area. The city wants to build a ring of skyscrapers encircling the adjacent Neve Tzedek neighborhood, as well as a new neighborhood in Florentine that would include buildings up to 11 stories tall.
According to residents, there is no logic in building expensive apartments in skyscrapers for absentee foreign residents while people who live and work in the neighborhood are being pushed out because of a lack of affordable housing, kindergartens, schools and parks.
The struggle in this bohemian neighborhood, where artists and students live in small apartments above cafes and workshops, reflects the current discourse regarding the changing character of the city, which is intensifying as the mayoral election approaches. Meanwhile, says Mayor Ron Huldai, “Everything I do, I do on behalf of the southern neighborhoods and the disadvantaged.”
Author: Jesse Fox
Jesse Fox is hoping to complete a graduate degree in urban planning at the Technion sooner rather than later. In the meantime, he is working at green NGO’s,volunteering with African refugees and writing as much as he can to try and get the word out. He is also a regular contributor at TreeHugger.com. Originally from North Carolina, Jesse has lived in Memphis, Boston, Quito and the Arava before finally settling down in Tel Aviv. There he can occasionally be found chilling at the beach. Jesse can be reached at jesse (at) greenprophet (dot) com
