Last update - 00:00 29/01/2007
Study refutes necessity of Jerusalem expansion plan
By Avi Bar-Eli, Haaretz Correspondent
Currently available land reserves should be able to supply Jerusalem's housing demand until 2020, an Interior Ministry study revealed on Monday.
The study was commissioned by the national building and planning council in order to settle the controversy surrounding the "Safdie Plan."
Architect Moshe Safdie's plan calls for the construction of 20,000 houses in open areas west of the city and has come under attack by environmental groups who claim it would eliminate the few open areas remaining in the city.
It estimates some 45.5 thousand housing units could be built on existing land reserves in Jerusalem by 2020 while demand during that time is expected to be between 33.5-44.5 thousand housing units. Of available land, some 17,000 are located within already built-up neighborhoods, 23,000 in unexploited areas and another 6,000 in new areas which were overlooked by previous studies.
Existing land reserves should suffice even in if Jerusalem's Jewish population increases to 587,000 in 2020.
Architect Tomer Guthalf conducted the study which was handed in after two months of research.