The politics of state planning in achieving geopolitical ends: The case of the recent master plan for Jerusalem

Abstract

The Palestinian–Israeli conflict involves three major issues: Palestinian refugees, Jerusalem and borderissues. This article argues that public planning in Israel has been striving dramatically to influence thisconflict in order to achieve geopolitical ends. It focuses on the Jerusalem issue and analyses the role ofplanning institutions and planners in transforming the city for geopolitical ends. Jerusalem is a deeplydivided city and has been segregated mainly along ethnic lines since the occupation of East Jerusalemin 1967. This article suggests that the strategy of planning in Jerusalem has been based on three interrelatedpolitical strategies: politics of demography that aim to influence heavily the demographics of thecity in favour of a larger Jewish presence and smaller Palestinian one; politics of geography that aim toexpand the jurisdiction of the city through confiscation of Palestinian lands on the eastern side of the city;and politics of exclusion that aim to exclude the Palestinians from any strategic planning for the city. Themajor result of these planning policies is dramatic spatial and demographic changes that harshly affectthe lives of Palestinians and their political future in the city.