Research & Innovation Authority
רשות המחקר והחדשנות
مكتب الأبحاث والابتكار
Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem is proud to collaborate with UN-Habitat through its University Network Initiative (UNI), promoting sustainable urban development and innovation. This partnership reflects Bezalel's commitment to addressing global challenges by integrating design, research, and urban planning to foster resilient, inclusive, and sustainable cities. Through educational programs, research projects, and community engagement, Bezalel contributes to advancing the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, particularly in urban design and conservation.
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Bezalel is promoting sustainable urban development and innovation
UN-Habitat UNI
The visionary initiative of Heritopolis explores the critical intersection between heritage conservation and contemporary urban development.
Led by Prof. Michael Turner, UNESCO Chair in Urban Design and Conservation Studies at Bezalel, The project serves as a platform for interdisciplinary research, education, and dialogue, addressing the challenges and opportunities of preserving cultural heritage in rapidly urbanizing environments. Heritopolis fosters innovative approaches to integrating heritage into sustainable urban planning, aligning with international goals such as the UN's Sustainable Development Agenda.
The Urban Thinkers Campus (UTC) project at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Jerusalem, in collaboration with Liebling Haus, is part of the global initiative by UN-Habitat aimed at fostering sustainable urban development. The conference focuses on "Livable Neighborhoods in the Metropolis" and emphasizes the importance of integrating cultural and natural heritage into urban planning. Split across two days in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, it examines themes like garden city heritage, sustainable public spaces, and addressing modern challenges like urban density and climate resilience.
Bezalel is leading the Urban Lab initiative on a national level, supported by Israel's Ministry of Construction and Housing (MoCH) and UN-Habitat’s My Neighborhood initiative. The lab promotes collaboration among researchers, urban planners, and policymakers to tackle urban challenges such as sustainable development and heritage preservation. The graduate program in urban design at Bezalel will be directly involved in this research, integrating the lab’s findings and methodologies into its curriculum.
Under the umbrella of Heritopolis, and in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict, ANTHEDON aims to look forward and beyond the current crisis, to envision a future where the conditions leading to widespread suffering are not repeated: envisioning Gaza as an open city as a tri-state metropolis, Egypt, Palestine and Israel, equipped with comprehensive urban services and infrastructures, a sustainable economy, and a thriving society. Referencing a Hellenistic city near Gaza, the Anthedon project is part of broader efforts to integrate cultural heritage into urban development, promoting peace and sustainability in the region.
Cities globally are basins of attraction above and beyond the need to accommodate growing
populations they have become increasingly more densified. The intention of the research,
sponsored by the Israeli Ministry of Construction and Housing, is to present the emerging
understandings of densification as a complex system of change. It is an exponential change,
not just an arithmetic computation of more people, more construction, and more functions in
the same spatial area. One that entails a massive increase in the interactions and a change in the
dynamic relations of all the components in different contexts. The research provides
implications for planning, policy setting, managing, and governing the scope and form of
densifying urbanization. Linking research and practice, this study draws upon the experience
in four countries: Israel, Korea, the Netherlands, and Rwanda. In cooperation with UN-
Habitat, it provides insights on the implementing mechanism of Urban Design as formulated
in the New Urban Agenda and the SDGs.
