(haipo) – Podcast with Dudu Cohen: The year 2025 marked Dudu Cohen's first year as mayor of Tirat Carmel, a year in which he was required to deal with an unusual growth rate, serious infrastructure challenges, and a broad vision for the city's future. In an interview for the "Live Here on the Bar" podcast, he presents a comprehensive picture of the situation: a city that is changing its face, while trying to maintain community and quality of life.
Watch the podcast:
Unusual demographic growth and its impact on the city
Tirat Carmel has experienced unprecedented demographic growth in the past decade, with a dramatic increase in population – from 18 residents to almost 34. This is an exceptional figure on a metropolitan scale, especially compared to Haifa, which has remained relatively stagnant. The growth stems mainly from housing agreements that led to the construction of thousands of new housing units and a dramatic change in the skyline, with new neighborhoods rising in height. Alongside the flood, a significant burden has been placed on infrastructure, services and municipal systems.
Education as a central axis in urban policy
About 31% of Tirat Carmel residents are children and teenagers under the age of 18, a figure that places education at the top of the city's priority list. Cohen emphasizes that most of the city's resources are currently directed to educational institutions, with the understanding that a quality education system is a condition for quality of life and attracting a young population. New administrators and educators have joined in the past year, and the vision is to establish an advanced, modern, and forward-looking education system that will reduce the phenomenon of students leaving for schools like the Reali and Leo Buck in Haifa.
Development of infrastructure and public institutions
The rapid pace of population in the new neighborhoods requires the development of corresponding infrastructure, a gap that the mayor acknowledges and is directing resources to address. Currently, 108 classrooms are being built in the city, along with kindergartens, dormitories, elementary and high schools, including the first establishment of a special education school. Beyond education, the municipality strives to develop cultural, sports and leisure institutions – a cultural center, sports fields, a country club, community centers and senior citizen facilities – as part of a comprehensive package of municipal services for a progressive and growing city.
The Roof Agreements and the New City in the West
The roof agreements signed in 2016 led to the settlement of neighborhoods such as Galei Carmel and Nof Yam, but only half of the agreement has been implemented so far. The second part includes the evacuation of the military base areas and the construction of a new district with approximately 5,000 housing units, mixed-use developments, and a strip of hotels near the beach. The evacuation, which was delayed due to the security situation, is not expected until late 2027–2028. The new district is expected to create an urban continuity between Tirat Carmel and Haifa, while maintaining a community identity.
Urban renewal in older neighborhoods
In parallel with the new construction, the municipality is promoting urban renewal in the older neighborhoods built in the 50s and 60s. This represents a potential of approximately 4,000 to 4,700 housing units in three central complexes, mainly along the city's eastern axis.
The emphasis, according to Cohen, is on correcting a historical injustice to long-time residents – protected buildings, new apartments with balconies and parking, maintenance funds and ensuring related public services – without creating traffic congestion and harming future quality of life.
Transportation, mixed use and connection to the metropolis
Tirat Carmel faces transportation gaps, mainly due to its dependence on Highway 4 as a major exit route. The municipality is working to improve internal connections and public transportation, but is dependent on the state for major projects, including connections to Highway 11 and Highway 2.
At the same time, work on the metro is already progressing and is expected to connect the city to the metropolitan mass transit network. Cohen emphasizes the importance of mixing uses in the new neighborhoods – residential, employment, commercial and leisure – to avoid dark and lifeless “sleeping neighborhoods” (there are many of these in Haifa, N.C.).
Connection to the sea and renewable energy as a future vision
One of the symbolic projects is connecting Tirat Carmel to the sea through walking paths. The vision is a natural continuity between Carmel and the coastal strip, which will change the quality of life in the city.
At the same time, the municipality is promoting solar energy projects on the roofs of public and educational institutions, with the aim of achieving energy independence and even generating income from the sale of electricity - a move that should strengthen the city's economic strength and inject funds for the benefit of residents without burdening them with property tax payments.
Connecting to Haifa via walking trails and promenades would spoil the uniqueness of Tirat Carmel as a homogeneous place.
Do the tourists need people from the towns and villages of the Galilee to come to them on Fridays, Saturdays, and the rest of the week to take advantage of the promenades and take up all the parking spaces like in Haifa?
Learn from the mistakes of Haifa, whose residents budget for beach maintenance and development of promenades for a population that is partly not from the city at all. Instead of charging those guests an entrance fee, at least for parking, especially in the summer, there is no room for residents of the city and nearby neighborhoods, and those who are not residents of the city sometimes come with several vehicles, and the park is maintained for free at the expense of the inflated property taxes of Haifa residents.
Not all parking lots are parking lots.
The most expensive property tax in the country, zero investment in youth and senior citizens, roads in disrepair!! Curved sidewalks, no parking development, the Carmel Caves are very expensive!! What's left? The children moved to Tirat Carmel, and they are engineers at Matam, all their friends left Haifa
Roads and sidewalks are broken. A neighborhood was built 5 years ago and the infrastructure is still in its infancy. You can see the constant renovations all around. Parks are designated for people who come from outside and litter the area.
There is talk that Reali is interested in building a campus in Tirat Carmel that will serve Neot Peres Navon, Tirat Carmel, and Atlit.