Solar panels at a testing site in Abu Dhabi. (photo by Jesse Fox) According to a report published this week in Globes, Israel’s public housing company Amidar is set to begin installing photovoltaic solar panels on the roofs of its buildings. And with 72,000 housing units in its portfolio, that could add up to a […]
The Tel Aviv City Council held a discussion yesterday on a handful of building plans that, if approved, would effectively transform some of the city’s most historic areas beyond recognition. The discussion, which council members described as “fateful” and “dramatic,” drew a large number of city residents, eager to have a say in the planning […]
As a geography Master’s student at Beer Sheva’s Ben-Gurion University, this semester I took a class in environmental law and policy with Alon Tal (we profiled him here). Our final project was to work on a green plan for Rahat, an Israeli Bedouin city that suffers from serious issues of garbage control, shade, green spaces […]
As a means to revive a development town, and a model for an entire country to follow, a super team of organizations have banded together to “green” Arad — an Israeli development town with a population of about 23,000 south of Tel Aviv in the Negev Desert. While Israelis are generally following the “green trend” […]
(Kiryat Sefer resident and activist Miri Kupermintz on the park site. All photos by Daniella Cheslow) A tour of Tel Aviv organized last week by the Cities of Tomorrow conference offered good news and bad news about the 100-year-old Hebrew city. The good news is that it looks like the decade-long citizens’ battle to get […]
If you’ve been wondering about the skyscrapers threatening to carve up Tel Aviv, or about the atrociously planned residential towers of Beer Sheva (see right), or even if you just want to hear about urban planning in general, then check out Tel Aviv University’s free upcoming conference, “Cities of Tomorrow,” held June 9-12. This year’s […]
A year after a municipal planning committee decided to put plans for a row of skyscrapers near Jaffa on hold, the plans are back on track. A new policy document formulated by a Tel Aviv planning committee calls for the construction of a row of very tall buildings in the south of the city, some […]
After the recent Jerusalem elections Green Prophet hailed the new Mayor Barkat for placing an environmentalist so prominently on his list. Jerusalem Mayor Barkat not long ago presented his master plan for the city for the next two decades, and top on his list is to green the city. His plan focuses on environmentally friendly construction […]
(Illustration of Cedar Island, a new artificial island project proposed for off the coast of Lebanon). Environmentalists in Beirut’s American University are calling it a disaster: A Lebanese company is looking to build mega artificial islands like Palm Island in Dubai, but in the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Lebanon. They are calling it […]
(A blueprint for Park Holot, a sand dune park in the Israeli city of Holon) Sustainable designers take note. Next week, April 30, a hip urban planning conference will be taking place at the Israeli Design Center in Holon, a suburb of Tel Aviv. Organizers of the conference say this conference will examine park planning […]
Naomi Tsur The city of Jerusalem is steeped in history, stretching back to before the Bible’s King David ruled the city. Today it is a major center for the three major monotheistic religions — Judaism, Islam and Christianity, who all hold Jerusalem near and dear. But whether you are on a spiritual quest, pilgrimage, or […]
Slated for a 2011 finish date, Knafo Klimor Architects look to be the first Israeli firm hired to design a green building in China. Their concept: to bring the greenhouse inside the house. The team breaks from the model, where historically, Israelis look to the United States, or at least Europe to fulfill their design […]
Some green groups are criticizing the city of Tel Aviv for not being sustainable at all; they’re also criticizing the city for this new conference happening April 1-2, on urban sustainability. It is part of dozens of events to celebrate Tel Aviv’s 100 year birthday this year. For your reading pleasure, and interest, Green Prophet […]
There is little in the architecture of a city that is more beautifully designed than a tree.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection in Israel lists two important green events for the end of March. Get your pedals on the bike spinning: First up is “Environment 2020” A conference dealing with “Challenges, Innovations and Corporate Social Responsibility” in Israel. This leading environmental conference, says the Ministry, will take place on March 30, 2009 […]