(haipo) - The urban renewal conference held yesterday (Tue 9/7/24) in Haifa, which was supposed to bring good news to the residents who have been suffering for many years from the dilapidated condition of the buildings in the city, ended in bitter disappointment. Big promises of professional details and practical tools left the participants with a feeling of frustration and despair.
◄ Questions, expectations, but no answers • Watch
The conference opened with noise and bells, with a promise to provide information about the rights of the residents, the process of promoting projects and the future of the neighborhoods. But from the very first stage it was possible to feel that things were not going as planned. The professionals were indeed there, but the response to the residents' expectations remained empty.
◄ Dangerous buildings and the war • Watch
Intervene or not?
The residents came to the conference with a full stomach and an expectation of change, but once again felt that they were alone in the battle. The conference ended with the same familiar statements and without any real commitment to action.
The frustration with the conduct of the municipality even increased, when during the conference the claim was heard (which turned out to be familiar to the residents), according to which the municipality does not interfere in agreements with the developers. The residents, on the other hand, claimed that this is not accurate, since the municipality does intervene, but not necessarily in their favor. Instead of clear answers and practical actions, the residents once again received the same familiar and empty answers.
years of neglect
In Haifa, the third largest city in Israel, there are countless old and crumbling residential buildings that have been waiting for restoration for over a decade. The constant threat of earthquakes and missiles exacerbates the residents' concerns, but urban renewal, as mentioned, is stuck. The entrepreneurs complain about the difficulties that the municipality piles on them and the residents feel they have been neglected.
Before the conference, the invitees were promised that they would receive comprehensive information about project promotion processes, their rights and the future of the neighborhoods. The hope was that with the exchange of the municipality and the new-old mayor, the issue would receive top priority. In practice, the situation did not change and the residents remained with the same feeling of frustration.
◄ Looking for answers • Watch
Desperate for answers
The poor condition of many buildings in Haifa is not new, to say the least. Recently, Israel experienced a series of earthquakes, the occurrence of which only sharpened the urgent need to strengthen buildings and build shelters.
It should be noted that indeed, the residents have the responsibility to promote the restoration of their residential building, but at this stage, after the endless postponements, the heaping of countless difficulties on the developers and contractors, and years of never-ending bureaucracy, patience has run out and the expectation with which they arrived at the conference, especially in light of the changes in the municipality in recent months, It was because here comes the change.
Desperate for answers and assistance, the residents felt that they were lost in the sea of bureaucracy and expected a listening ear, but despite the good intentions, it is hard to say that they received satisfactory answers after a decade or more of nerve-wracking anticipation.
time is running out
Just to clarify, in the neighboring city, Tirat Carmel, similar projects last only about a year (compared to over a decade in Haifa). Entire neighborhoods have been established in Carmel Castle in recent years, while in Haifa things are stuck, as if time has frozen.
The conference was supposed to be a first step towards a solution, but turned into an event that highlighted the depth of the problems and neglect. The promises remained in the air and the residents left with broken hopes and a sense of uncertainty.
At this point there is no more room for talk, it is the turn of actions. The constantly threatening war, the crumbling buildings and the feeling that time is running out require action, and fast.
Klish 7 answered that master plans were made for all the neighborhoods in the coast with the determination of the manner of construction and planning in all of them.
In other words, there should be no problem in issuing permits to entrepreneurs because there is an approved planning framework.
Unless a cliché is true? Or are the developers trying to see if they can put pressure on the current city council to give them more and more apartments?!
Whoever is not well, have a good day. For every entrepreneur who doesn't want to, there will be two others who will
They have been talking for many years about an earthquake that may occur and nothing will be done to push it and not in the country as a whole.
As a civil engineer for 46 years I am horrified to think about the consequences of an earthquake that will come.
frustrating
Alex,
I am horrified that a veteran civil engineer speaks with complete lack of understanding.
There is a high probability that you are not a constructor and do not understand anything about planning buildings, not least about the resistance of buildings in an earthquake.
You are sowing unnecessary panic like the last of the money greedy entrepreneurs.
If the developers/tenants do not lower the hems or, alternatively, change the plans for densification of construction (adding a limited number of floors and apartments on the building itself to be upgraded), the tenants, in my opinion, can continue to dream of eviction of construction for decades to come and it will not happen.
Who will approve 25-story buildings over every 4-story building while there are hundreds of such projects in every neighborhood?
What will the city look like and what will the neighborhood look like? It is clear that it will not be approved in such a format.
Did you want Yahav again?
We drowned in the mud again
The concept of "urban renewal" has become a laundered concept of greed for money.
In the housing estates where massive demolition and rebuilding is required, nothing will be done.
Most of the "renewable construction" is common in the Carmel Ridge on the basis of false and fraudulent construction permits under TAMA 38.
Most of the 38 TMA's in Carmel were approved against the law, blindfolded. This has been proven, but the municipality is following its wrong practices.
Only the uprising of the residents can cause a change in the thermal industry that struck deep roots in the municipal engineering administration.
The whole article reeks of bias by the masker who probably has a personal interest. In the mentioned Carmel Castle there is almost no urban renewal. About 100 apartment buildings remained for over a decade with advertising boards of the developers, who in the end did not build anything. The boards are already rusting and fading and the promises are on ice.
The new neighborhoods in the Carmel Castle are not urban renewal but empty lots that were sold in one big mass and through price lotteries for the resident. The Carmel Castle received in the Kahlon Roof Agreements a huge sum to develop public buildings and infrastructure for the Gali Carmel neighborhood and the Hathorim and they were populated. Now the Carmel Castle that finished the budgets given is facing bankruptcy. As far as I know, it has a large deficit from absorbing about 10 residents at once, without increasing the other sources of property tax.
Urban renewal is not the be-all and end-all if it later results in serious planning mistakes as we saw in Habiva Reich and Remez. It is impossible to push thousands of residents into neighborhoods without schools, kindergartens, new sewage and water pipes, employment centers and other businesses.
The dilapidated buildings are neither the fault nor the problem of the municipality. In planning, it should take care of an overall vision and complete planning, because if not, then those tenants will come with claims that the municipality did not take care of the infrastructure and parks and facilities and kindergartens for the amount of the added population.
The pressures are also not understood regarding an earthquake - who assures you that the new building is more durable? You will be surprised if, God forbid, there is an earthquake, buildings that cosmetically look new, beautiful and strong are going to have the biggest damages. You saw what happened in Turkey with new construction, it actually turned out to be an oversight that was not supervised.
The mayor did not come because he knew that nothing would move regarding the evacuation of the building
The mayor did not come because he knows that nothing will move regarding the evacuation of the building
He didn't want to waste the time
His
It was a complete disgrace the mayor didn't even come to the conference
It is not clear who initiated the conference and where it was published and by whom. Thank you for the answer
The mayor only promised
disgrace
City administration
go home
You took care of your jobs
That way they can continue to complain and demonstrate