Geddes resurrected: The legacy of Sir Patrick Geddes in contemporary urban planning in Tel Aviv: Fid-Bau Portal

Geddes resurrected: The legacy of Sir Patrick Geddes in contemporary urban planning in Tel Aviv

Mualam, Nir

Graphical abstract

Highlights•The 2015 plan is an adaptation of the original 1925 plan compiled by Sir Geddes.•Although on a much larger scale, the new plan adopts similar design principles.•The original Geddes plan still serves as a relevant commodity for city planners.•21st century planners turned to Geddes for inspiration.•It remains questionable whether Geddes’ civic principles were fully realized.

AbstractThe paper examines Sir Geddes’ impact on contemporary city planning in Tel Aviv. In particular, whether and in what way previous work by Geddes has influenced 21st century planners in Tel Aviv. The paper reviews those issues by looking at one of the most ambitious plans the city of Tel Aviv has generated in recent years—the 2015 “Northwestern Plan”.In the winter of 2015, the new plan was enacted. The plan aims to create a new residential quarter on one of the last remaining sand dunes. This represents an attempt to create a mixed-use extension of the 1925 Geddes Plan for Tel Aviv by establishing a new district filled with expansive boulevards, parks, and public spaces. While the municipal authorities regarded the recently enacted plan as a successful adaptation of Geddes’ urban vision, antagonists perceived it as a publicity stunt, designed to brand the new district. The article explores these arguments, analyzes the social, economic and morphological principles embedded in the new plan, and compares them to those employed by Geddes 90 years ago. The analysis reveals that the original plan compiled by Geddes still serves as a relevant commodity for city planners, and as an inspirational source. 21st century planners involved in enacting the new plan turned to Geddes for inspiration however it remains questionable whether his ideology, civic principles, and conceptual approach to the city were fully realized in the new plan.