Commercial revitalization and historic preservation of al-Shalalah commercial district in Hebron City

Other Title(s)

إعادة إحياء و المحافظة على الطابع التاريخي و التراثي لمنطقة الشلالة التجارية في مدينة الخليل

Dissertant

Duaybis, Mariane

Thesis advisor

Amr, Jamal

Comitee Members

Muhammad, Muhammad Abd al-Hadi
Qasim, Muin

University

Birzeit University

Faculty

Faculty of Engineering and Technology

Department

Department of Architectural Engineering

University Country

Palestine (West Bank)

Degree

Master

Degree Date

2009

English Abstract

Hebron is considered an important commercial center in southern Palestine, due to its location in the middle of a fertile agricultural area and on the route of trade and communication, between the nearby cities.1 Al-Shalalah commercial district is one of the main commercial districts of the old city of Hebron getting the HRC and the municipality in the process of protection is very crucial because they will be the primary supporters of all stages of the revitalization process Understanding the priority of the HRC for focusing on the Al-Shalalah commercial district and agreeing with the HRC on the changes that should be carried out for the protection area of the Al-Shalalah commercial district was most important for my study Several visits were achieved to the specified district and several meeting were held with the HRC managers and engineers.

The meetings and visits focused on their needs priorities ; it also worked on raising awareness, providing information and suggesting new approaches for people in order to protect their own cultural heritage, especially the need for a detailed master plan for Al-Shalalah commercial district.

The main objective of the project concerning the historic preservation is neither to create a museum out of the district nor to cause the flight of original dwellers of the area, but to develop and revive the district.

The detailed plan will contribute to this objective.

It will not stifle life in the Old City but will attempt to influence the course of its development in the direction put by the project forward : to sum up the project’s overall leitmotif is Revitalizing Al-Shalalah commercial district. Preserving the valuable and unique fabric of the area.

The main aim of the project is to identify delineate and revitalize Al-Shalalah commercial district and to prepare and design a protection plan for it as an example for other delineated areas.

The project is composed of four phases, the first of which is a review of the existing conditions and obstacles of Al-Qasaba, the Old City of Hebron generally and Al-Shalalah commercial district specifically.

The second phase is the conceptual revitalization phase based on evaluations and findings.

The third phase is the master plan for Al-Shalalah commercial district.

In this phase there is identifications and delineation of the master plan components that will lead to the last phase of design implementation.

One of the important issues to be covered in addition to updating the data collected was to organize many visits and workshops with the Hebron Rehabilitation Committee (HRC), from which was extracted the main outcomes which are the buildings awareness, enthusiasm about the project § Slowing down the deterioration of the district besides preserving ancient buildings and market places.

All the above mentioned must be followed up focusing on the main target of restoring and sustaining the district. It means in more details : • Upgrading stores and improving market places.

Providing incentives for economic development and regeneration. • Upgrading public and private services.

Implementing the restoration and rehabilitation of monuments landmarks and services.

• Encouraging tourism and pilgrimage to the Al-Shalalah commercial district and the neighboring area.

• Adopting the proper planning and building regulations that are consistent with the fabric of the Old City. • The concept also includes processes of capacity building ; especially in the economic sector. There is a difference between devising a general plan for the Old City and implementing it.

My study will concentrate on strategies and give some examples (key projects) as initial point.

For the renewal I used the ‘Urban Regeneration’ (UR) concept, for the economic sector I tried to adapt Taylor’s market analysis concept for the Al-Shalalah commercial district and other relevant strategies that focus on similar matters.

The later objective would require considering the area shop by shop and building by building to ensure that the plan will be implanted in details.

To fulfill the missing street Amenities from lighting fixtures, street furniture, variety of stone pavements, wooden or steel shelters and street signs Urban planning in Al-Shalalah commercial district suffers from the lack of morphological maps that contain details and information on the land and its facilities.

There is a comprehensive survey conducted by the HRC on the Old City of Hebron in addition to plotted maps.

The Hebron Rehabilitation Committee is considered the prime source for data especially in all demographic data related to socio economic survey included in the research process.

Main Subjects

Civil Engineering

Topics

• Rural areas
• Urban planning
• Planning
• Towns
• Palestine
• Hebron

No. of Pages

196

Table of Contents

• APA
• MLA
• AMA

Language

English

Data Type

Arab Theses

Record ID

BIM-302607