التخطيط للسيطرة المکانية - دراسة حالة عن الضفة الغربية المحتلة Planning for Spatial Dominance

Abstract

Among the traditional noble goals of planning is the “betterment of life in human communities through the spatial and demographic balance (both between activities or groups)”. Often associated with planning values in democratic systems is the equality between humankind, class justice in socialism. Insofar that, some planners have equated their roles with a ‘defense lawyer’ representing the oppressed and marginalized in the face of market and capital forces. Planners have used and invented many mechanisms and tools to achieve these puritan goals such as, land uses zoning, to private property protection legislations, eminent domain, road planning, standardization of systems and other well-known physical planning tools aimed at achieving overall public good and the advancement of society. However, what is less common is the use of planning to oppress, dominate, or to contain a group. It is also not clear how the same tools that are used for noble planning causes can be twisted to suit racial or ethnic ideology. This paper shows how a purely technical physical planning system can be turned around to fulfill an apartheid-saturated political agenda. The same tools can be simultaneously used to achieve interest of a few and guarantee maximum spatial control of another. The concept and definition of spatial domination, its objectives and instruments is introduced and discussed. The role of each planning tool in achieving spatial control is researched through a case study of the occupied West Bank. The aim is to find a relationship between the use of physical planning tools and the aims of spatial domination and geopolitical control. The methodology reviews and compares the experience of planning in South Africa during apartheid and devised planning tools used for the imposition of spatial control. The paper tracks the status of planning in the West Bank in military, ideological and strategic eyes. Mechanisms and instruments used in trying to impose control tireless spatial even with the talk about peace. Finally the paper offers a conceptual model of the spatial domination, its components and objectives and shows how much each tool promotes spatial control. The paper relies on data from secondary sources because of the complexities of tracking data first hand in Palestine.