Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat on a United Jerusalem and the Master Plan of Expansion

www.jcpa.org - Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat spoke about the Master Plan for future construction in the city. He emphasized that Jerusalem must remain united. This briefing was part of the Institute for Contemporary Affairs at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, May 20, 2010.

To read more on Jerusalem's master plan please see:
http://jcpa.org/text/Jerusalem-Master-Plan.pdf


The Mayor's Vision for Jerusalem
By Mayor Nir Barkat

-Jerusalem has a population of 800,000 people today, which will grow to a million people twenty years from now. The current population ratio is one-third Muslim, two-thirds Jewish, and two percent Christian. In the next twenty years, we anticipate a need for 50,000 apartments - one-third for the Arab population and two-thirds for the Jewish population.
-The vision I have for the city is to return Jerusalem to the role it played two and three thousand years ago as a world center - a destination for pilgrims and believers throughout the world. I meet people on my travels who say in an apologetic way that they have not yet been to Jerusalem, that it is a place they would like to visit at least once in their lifetime.
-Our vision is to develop Jerusalem so it can fulfill that role - to develop tourism, to be a cultural center, and to exploit the spiritual potential of the Holy City. My goal is to reach ten million tourists a year a decade from now.
-I told the American administration that I hope nobody is actually expecting that a building freeze will happen in Jerusalem or that a freeze should be only for the Jewish population. This would be illegal in Israel and unconstitutional in most democratic countries around the world.
-Jerusalem must stay united. There is not one example in the world of a divided city that ever worked. We have to upgrade the quality of life for all residents, and we must keep Jerusalem undivided.
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http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowPage.asp?DRIT=1&DBID=1&LNGID=1...

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