A growing city. densification solutions without demolition.

project advisor: Architect Danielah Smits-Possek. TEXT about the project: In an era of accelerated urban growth and increasing development pressures, urban densification without demolition is a key tool and challenge in sustainable urban renewal. However, this type of densification raises complex questions regarding its social, planning, and environmental implications. The project examines how the existing urban fabric can be thickened while preserving historic buildings, strengthening community cohesion, and using strategies that incorporate mixed-use, adapting existing buildings to changing needs, and improving accessibility to public spaces. The project addresses the effects of densification on the sense of security in public spaces and community cohesion, while addressing public participation in planning processes. In the environmental dimension, the project focuses on urban resource management, developing green infrastructure, and dealing with the urban heat island. The project examines the differences between the outer edge of the neighborhood and its center. Along the main thoroughfares, such as Yitzhak Sadeh Street and Begin Road, employment buildings with an active commercial frontage are integrated, which strengthen the neighborhood's connectivity to the city, while the existing scale is maintained within the neighborhood. This distinction between different areas allows for a subtle adjustment of the building additions to the local character, while maintaining a mix of uses and urban continuity. In this way, a spatial strategy is built that promotes balanced urban growth, without disconnecting from the past and without harming the existing social fabric. After examining urban renewal processes from Israel and around the world, the project offers an innovative model for sustainable urban densification that supports an integrative urban space, while balancing private and public needs. The insights that emerge from the project form the basis for formulating up-to-date urban policy, which connects economic advancement, social responsibility, and smart environmental management.