One of the most pressing needs in countries with little open space is to make urban life desirable enough that city folk won’t want to flee to the suburbs. But in Beer Sheva, a strange phenomenon is underfoot – suburbanization inside the city that drags commerce away from the historic district. A story I wrote for Tablet Magazine explores whether Israel is turning into sprawling California, particularly in light of the recent land reform.
Memorable quote by urban planner Yodan Rofe, discussing a major Beer Sheva strip mall: “It’s the 1950s style of the U.S. A big parking lot surrounded with sh*t.”
The piece looks at some of the businessmen trying to hold their own in Beer Sheva’s Old City, a charming grid of stone-paved streets built by the Ottomans. One is Shachar Udi, above, who launched Gecko Cafe on Smilansky Street in the Old City last year in May. As recently as 20 years ago the Old City was a vibrant center of town, its streets crowded by day with shoppers and workers, by night with young partiers and older restaurant goers. But a slew of malls – both enclosed and outdoor strip-style – cut into the commerce, while the city couldn’t act fast enough to balance the two. Now Smilansky Street (below) is deserted. Read about Beer Sheva’s latest mall here.
What I found most fascinating about this piece was to understand the changing underpinnings of planning in Israel. Like many other Israeli cities, Beer Sheva was planned by European-trained thinkers. This has its ups and downs, as we explored in a post about a redevelopment scheme. Today, however, Beer Sheva represents the rest of Israel’s lunge toward Americanization, including the way developers imagine the urban landscape.
:: Photos by Daniella Cheslow
Author: Daniella Cheslow
Daniella Cheslow grew up in a car-dependent suburb in New Jersey, where she noticed strip malls and Wal-Marts slowly replacing farmland. Her introduction to nature came through hiking trips in Israel. As a counselor for a freshman backpacking program at Northwestern University, Daniella noticed that Americans outdoors seemed to need to arm themselves with performance clothing, specialized water bottles and sophisticated camping silverware. This made her think about how to interact with and enjoy nature simply. This year, Daniella is getting a Master’s in Geography from Ben Gurion University of the Negev. She also freelance writes, photographs and podcasts. In her free time, she takes day trips in the desert, drops off compost and cooks local foods like stuffed zucchini, kubbeh and majadara. Daniella gets her peak oil anxiety from James Howard Kunstler and her organic food dreams from Michael Pollan. Read more at her blog, TheTruthHerzl.com. Daniella can be reached at daniella (at) greenprophet (dot) com.
I really hope that place will be very well maintained.
Malls can be deadly for small business entrepreneurs. I mean, in a mall you can find about anything that you might want to buy from little candles to expensive jewelry and many other items. Sometimes, when I'm in a hurry, I prefer the mall because it offers me a large diversity and very fast to go from one shop to another.