Planning as political declaration: Reappraising the first Israeli outline scheme for Jerusalem

The resemblance between the 1944 outline scheme for Jerusalem and the 1955 one, and the political constellation in which the latter was prepared, raise questions as to its genuine planning necessity. As we suggest, the declaratory importance of the 1955 scheme outweighed its planning reasoning. It was mainly a political measure designed by the government: first, to discipline the Jerusalem Municipality, regarded as implementing a reckless planning and construction policy; second, conveying a message to the international community of unquestionable and responsible Israeli control over those parts of the city which came under Israeli rule following the war of 1948.