The Old City Outline Scheme

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Prior to planning, a detailed survey of the Old City was prepared by the planning team. The survey maps included building and land use, population density, road network and street surfacing, public and private open spaces, location of community services, historical and religious sites.

The Old City of Jerusalem is also a lively residential and commercial centre. Unlike many walled-in medieval cities in Europe, the Old City is a vivid and lively urban organism, full of people of various races and religions. Its area covers an irregular square of about 900 by 900 meters surrounded by strong and impressive walls. Throughout the centuries, the Old City has been largely a pedestrian city. The interior distances allow both inhabitants and visitors to reach their destination on foot: the children their schools, the residents their workshops, the visitors their churches, mosques or synagogues and the bazaars.

As of old, donkeys and mules have remained the conventional means of transport in the narrow and stepped streets. For the aim of this scheme was to restore to the city its former character and charm, to preserve the residential and commercial streets with their strong-built facades; to plan the rebuilding of the destroyed houses and synagogues of the Jewish Quarter; to provide parking lots near the main city gates and to prohibit motor traffic within the Old City.

Thus we hoped to restore the ancient character of the Old City as a purely pedestrian town.