**1. Introduction**

The vibrant records of history date the earliest civilization in Jerusalem to the sixth millennium [1]. Along this deep time pathway, distinct multicultural groups inhabited Jerusalem. The indigenous inhabitants of Jerusalem were the Canaanites. Coexistence over the land of Canaan produced intertwined histories for its inhabitants who fought occasionally but mostly collaborated [2]. Spiritually, the city of Jerusalem has a remarkable presentation. Over three millennia ago, a tradition

developed envisioned Jerusalem as a Holy City. It reflected for Jews their spiritual pole [3]. The city represented the birthplace of Christianity in the first century AD, while in the seventh century when Islam showed up, the city was perceived as a Sacred Centre [4]. The religious value of Jerusalem gave it special symbolic significance [5], no wonder it became a focus of all monotheistic religions and was regarded as the metaphoric core of the old world as shown in **Figure 1**.

The special character of Jerusalem invited forceful invaders and conquerors. This fact led to the destruction and reconstruction of the sacred city more than 18 times [7]. Under the Canaanite, the city was called Ur-Salem until King David captured it and called it the City of David in 997 BC, proclaiming it the capital of the united Israelite Kingdom which was demolished by the Egyptians who recaptured Jerusalem 40 years later. Successively, Jerusalem was seized by the Babylonians, the Persians, the Hellenistic, and the Roman-byzantine Empire [8]. Then Muslims conquered Jerusalem in 636 AD. Since then, except for nice decades extending from 1099 to 1187 AD when the city fell under Crusader control, it was under multiple Muslim rules for example, Umayyad, Ikhshidid, Fatimid, Tulunid, Abbasid, Ayyubid, Seljuk, Mameluke, and lately the Ottoman. Those various rules in Jerusalem reflect a mosaic mirror of civilizations that left marvelous imprints and monuments and created remarkable spaces of fabulous landmarks to date.

Jerusalem was kept under Muslim control until 1917 when the British ended the Ottoman Rule and imposed their Mandate in Palestine [9]. The British helped establish a Jewish state in Palestine [10], thus their mandate was dismantled after the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. In the same year, Jerusalem was divided into East and West for the first time in its long history. The eastern part was administered by the Trans- Jordan, while the western side was declared as the capital of Israel [11]. Eighteen years later, in 1967, Israel won the Six-Day War, annexed East Jerusalem, and dismantled its Arabic municipality. In the meantime, Israeli laws were imposed by one Jewish municipality operated totally under Israeli control up to date [12]. Afterward, specifically in 1980, Israel declared United Jerusalem, East, and West, as its capital.

**Figure 1.** *Jerusalem represents the center of the Old World [6].*

*Urban Planning and Land-Use Management in Jerusalem – Chronological Analysis: Urban… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112766*

The geographical location of Jerusalem offered a distinguished centrality to its character, **Figure 2**. It occupies principal geopolitical status with strong connectivity to regional capitals. Jerusalem is located 55 km away from the western coast of the Mediterranean, 85 km from Amman, 290 km from Damascus, 388 km from Beirut, 528 km from Cairo, and 865 km from Baghdad. This superlative position entitles Jerusalem to exceptional geopolitical value.

**Figure 2.** *Radial connectivity and geopolitical significance of Jerusalem (author).*

From the past century until today, a wide range of spaces faced massive urban instabilities due to political, economic, and military conflicts worldwide. Such conflicts are more intensified in regions and cities, where ethnic separation, hypersegregation, and radical racial discrimination become phenomenal. This could be reflected in different cities like Nicosia, Mostar, Belfast, Beirut, and Jerusalem. These conflict areas or alternatively, contested cities, are perceived as detached cities, polarized cities, partitioned cities, dual cities, and divided and fragmented cities [13].

In urban and spatial contexts, conflict areas are zones where conflict is dominant. Consequently, the physical spaces and social strata are ultimately divided and thus, constitute progressively more contrasted spaces and places, opposite neighborhoods, and paradoxical blocks. Dissimilarity is remarkable in such a separated physical environment which outstandingly shows the contrasted clusters of inhabitants, i.e., the rich and the poor, the privileged and the deprived, and the dominant and the marginalized. Likewise in terms of urban fabric, conflict areas show obvious contradictions among the segregated spaces, developed or undeveloped, secured, or risky, renewal or degradation [14]. Jerusalem is an urban metropolis that represents a conflict area with a far-reaching intensity of ethnic, religious, ideological, and geopolitical struggle that exists for more than 75 years. Yet, Jerusalem is considered a contested, frontier, and deeply divided city [15].

Urban planning development in Jerusalem offers an extensive and interesting case for urban planners and scholars. The successive changes in the city definition, and the transformations of its administration during a few decades in the last century resulted in a complex set of spatial planning systems. The city population, as well as the builtup environment, have been heavily impacted.

### **2. Ottoman planning in Jerusalem (1516–1917)**

The character and core structure of Jerusalem were formidably formed during the Ottoman rule which started in the early sixteenth century and extended for more than 400 years. Ottoman governments paid special attention to Jerusalem. Economic prosperity and social revival were the direct outcomes which, in turn, flourished the city and led to public infrastructure renovation, as well as continuous population growth. The public renovation works included rebuilding the encircling fascinating wall of the Old City. It first defined Jerusalem's spatial urban definition with a special fortress outlook. Other restoration works included the rehabilitation of internal roads, pedestrian alleys, and the installation of drinking fountains, especially in places where worshippers and pilgrims were expected. Little traces of this magnificent prosperity and urban renewal remained in the nineteenth century. This could be understood due to the economic stagnation and the arrested growth that Jerusalem underwent until the 1830s.

The growing importance of Jerusalem led the Ottomans to recognize the city as a main province in Palestine in terms of physical development and planning. This was interpreted by large-scale development plans and actions. The first monumental windmill was constructed in 1839; pedestrian sidewalks were expanded in 1863; road tiles were replaced for all streets and alleys, besides surface water drain channels were reconstructed in 1885; the first highway was constructed between Jerusalem and Jaffa coastal city in 1867, while a railway connecting both cities were opened in 1892; the city central hospital was rebuilt in 1891; as well as post offices were installed in the city. These outstanding examples show the significant Ottoman role in urban renewal in Jerusalem [16, 17].

#### *Urban Planning and Land-Use Management in Jerusalem – Chronological Analysis: Urban… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.112766*

Unlike the previous eras, under Ottoman rule, Jerusalem gained a growing "new" political value, besides its religious and administrative importance. This added a lot to Jerusalem's revival in the 19th century [18]. The intense administrative redevelopment of Jerusalem formed a dominant characteristic of Ottoman centralization in Palestine. The major universal powers approached the city by settling massive number of foreign missionaries. European and occidental consulates were established successively over a short period: Great Britain (1838), Prussia (1842), Sardinia (1843), France (1843), America (1856), and Russia (1857). In consequence, Jerusalem's political life was revitalized, and the city's urbanization gained more governmental attention which enhanced the city's population growth. These new political formations quite naturally accelerated the building boom in the city. In 1860, the Ottoman government began allowing European Christians to build outside the encircling walls of the Old City of Jerusalem. Therefore, new European building styles and architecture continued to appear influencing the urban landscape without interruption until WWI.

The unique religious perception towards Jerusalem also impacted the Ottoman planning policies and city administration. Ottomans thus established a peaceful religious environment in Jerusalem. They developed an amazing social system fed by elastic laws and regulations, including residency rights, for both: native inhabitants, and visitors. Ottomans never prohibited any Christian population from practicing their basic rights of entering the city of Jerusalem. Jews were a minority, however, they exercised religious freedom during the Ottoman period unprecedented in any country in Europe [19]. No discrimination was reported among the heterogenous population in Jerusalem, and peaceful co-existence and plurality of faiths and confessions were provident [20].

A critical announcement happened in 1869 when the founder of Political Zionism declared a desire to establish a Jewish national state in Palestine. Automatically, Ottoman Sultan, Abd-al Hamid II refused to host and settle Jewish colonists in Palestine. Within three decades later, the colonization of Palestine through the 'Basel Program' was announced in the First Zionist Congress which also founded the World Zionist Organization in 1897 in Switzerland. Accordingly, Sultan Abd-al Hamid II initiated a policy of sending members of his own palace staff to govern the province of Jerusalem. However, Jewish immigration into Jerusalem accelerated, it was even eased by diplomatic Consuls who misused a large role in the conduct of minority relations with the Ottoman Empire. Moreover, land tenure and land ownership laws could not restrict foreign immigrant Jews from buying lands in Jerusalem [21].

Ottomans did not create a comprehensive planning regime in Jerusalem, or detailed master plans and regulations. But they preserved the special character of the Old City and renovated its urban spaces and infrastructure. By this, Ottomans inherited the human community a vivid presentation of the "old fortification towns". On the other hand, Ottomans reflected their peaceful social policies upon the builtup environment, namely the Old City quarters shown in **Figure 3.** Those quarters categorize the main religious strata in Jerusalem. They form a tolerant division along well-defined geographical and demographical lines. The formation of Jerusalem's old quarters reflects the multicultural coexistence and integration of social aspects with the distinctive physical appearance of the city. Each quarter contained a small community having similar backgrounds where people preferred to live in proximity to each other, forming a "homogenous group" in a relatively wider "heterogeneous population". Honorably, Jerusalem is perceived therefore as a "Religious Open City" in the Ottoman era [22].

#### **Figure 3.**

*Spatial affinity in Jerusalem Old City quarters [22].*


#### **Table 1.**

*Ottoman planning perception in Jerusalem (author).*

The planning perception and the accompanying spatial reflection on Jerusalem during the Ottoman Era are shown in **Table 1**. Ottoman rule in Jerusalem ended after the dissolvement of the Ottoman Empire at the end of WWI, and Jerusalem was captured then by the British Army.
