Urbanization strategy for strengthening of national development in the New State of Palestine

The Oslo process leading to the Interim Peace Agreement between Israelis and Palestinians requires conceptualization and strategic planning so that a new Palestinian state can be undertaken in a comprehensive and timely fashion, complementing existing spatial and community structures. A development strategy must be agreed on to determine priorities and facilitate national development objectives. This paper sets out a spatial strategy for settlement structure and planning policy in the new state, a strategy that, by encouraging investment, strives to strengthen urbanization on an axis joining the four main Palestinian cities. The strategy further endeavors to create a Palestinian core and promote economic growth, while seeking to maintain a hierarchy of long-term rank-size settlement structures.