Geographic and Demographic in Jerusalem: General Look
Rassem Khamaisi
Jerusalem emerged from the old city which located in the top of the Al- Thuhoor hill
overlooking the village of Silwan to the south-east of the Haram Al- Sharif . The old
city is surrounded by the three valleys and this facilitates the task of defending it.
The hill on which old Jerusalem was built represent the center of the Jerusalem
mountains located in the middle of Palestine and which stretches from Marj Ibn
Amen in the north to the Negave desert in the south. Jerusalem is located in the
middle of this chain of mountains, at an altitude of 720-830 meters above the sea
level. Jerusalem was a historical passage for convoys traveling between the African,
European and Asian civilization. The central location give Jerusalem a unique status
and made it a coveted place to in, as far back as the Stone Age which extends to about
12000 BC. This geographic location has an implication over the spatial development
and expansion of Jerusalem. The geographic layout of any area is characterized by the
topographic structure which include mountains, valleys and geological breaks, as
well as result of human intervention through construction and destruction processes.
Hence, the natural geographic layout of Jerusalem has affected its development,
population distribution and economic activities.
Most of the urban growth of Jerusalem between 139-1850 AD was concentrated
inside the Old City walls. The Old City area underwent a process of demolition and
reconstruction, therefore, it is comprised of layers of buildings that have been
constructed and demolished as a result of natural causes like the earthquakes of 747
AD and 1066 AD or wars like those between 1077-1260 AD (Mustafa 1997, Cohen
1977).This development accelerated the population growth and made it impossible to
confine urban expansion within the Old City walls. In 1872 the population of
Jerusalem District was estimated at 58,000 residents but in 1922 it increased to about
148,000. Moreover, in 1872 the population of Jerusalem proper was estimated at
14,300 residents but in 1922 it increased to about 62,600 (Mustafa 1997). In order to
absorb this growth of both the Arab and Jewish populations of Jerusalem it was
necessary to establish new neighborhoods outside the walls.
During the period between 1922 and 1947, the population of Jerusalem rose from 62,000 to
164,000, which actually means an increase of 165%. Jews increased by 192% during the same
period while Arabs increased by 132%. for further details, see the following table:
Table 1 : Population growth in Jerusalem between 1922 - 1947
2211
Year
2291
Arabs
Jews
Total
%
Arabs
Jews
Total
%
2,6,61
96,,2
116191
,951
,,6,66
16966
,,6666
1252
226926
116,,1
,26119
,951
,26966
216666
2116966
1152
1126211
,,6212
,16616 266
Total
-----9652
1,59
,951
%of New City
Source: Aref Al-Aref, 1961; Al-Dabagh, 1988.
,96266
226966
2,96966
266
9159
215,
1152
------
National Group
Old City
New City
According to the table, it is noticed that the new city formed 78% of the total population in
Jerusalem in 1947. Moreover, most of the Jewish residents (97.6%) lived in the new city (Ben
Areeh, 1990). This increase in population was accompanied by an increase in the number of
houses, where houses increased from 21,403 homes in 1931, including 5,853 houses in the
Old City to 40,000 homes in 1947 which were spread out over the 51% of the Jerusalem
Municipality area at that time (Mustafa, 1997).
Regarding the spatial distribution of the population, Jews were concentrated in the western
part of Jerusalem, around the center of Jaffa road. As for Arabs, they were concentrated in the
Old City and around it from all sides. The eastern region, which included al-Masharef
mountain and the Mt. of Olives, was almost vacant. It should be noted that the spatial
separation of population in Jerusalem on a national basis was the main platform for proposing
ideas for dividing Jerusalem, similar to the proposal of dividing Jerusalem in 1945 by Sir W.
Fitzgerald.
As for the commercial center of Jerusalem, it was divided between the Old City and Jaffa
Gate and New Gate towards Jaffa road until the Mahane Yehuda region, in addition to some
small commercial centers distributed among the neighborhoods. During this period, industrial
development was limited, therefore small craft workshops were distributed, part in the Old
City and others in the New City.
The spatial expansion and urban centralization in the city of Jerusalem coincided with the
struggle between Arabs and Jews during the British Mandate. The struggle included control
over local institutions, land ownership and urban expansion. The British control over the
central administration contributed to offering Jews priorities in development. They were
assisted and provided all necessary facilitation to find housing in Jerusalem as in other places
in Palestine. The struggle an had impact on the emergence of separate ethnic residential
quarters. The development of Jews towards the west was due to the following reasons:
-2The
moderate topographical structure which allows expansion without encountering any
physical impediments.
-1The connections Jews had with other Jewish areas in Palestine, such as Tel Aviv, Haifa and
Tiberias.
-,Transportation roads that connect Jerusalem with other developed centers in the west.
-9Vacant areas where lands could be owned.
Therefore, the spatial expansion in Jerusalem during that period was deeply rooted around and
to west of the Nablus, Jerusalem and Bethlehem roads and especially around Jaffa road. As
Jerusalem started to expand, the surrounding villages began expanding and developing to be
connected later with Jerusalem.
During that period, imported spatial samples began entering into Jerusalem’s urban space as
part of the European and Jewish intrusion of Jerusalem. These samples started with concrete
buildings during the period between 1850 - 1917 and increased to a point where they
dominated over Jerusalem buildings. At the same time, urban and construction development
started to be conducted according to the structural schemes and building constraints which
included even in the Old City. The constraints stipulated that it was forbidden to build on a
space of 2,500 meters from Damascus Gate without proper licensing. These planning
constraints had an impact on the spread of buildings in Jerusalem and on the spread of new
quarters according to the Garden City model.
Due to the increase in population and the economic growth, especially among refugees,
commercial centers began to emerge outside the Old City walls. At one point, the Old City
was the center of economic, housing and administrative life in Jerusalem. Now however, the
Old City has become a part or a quarter of the many quarters in the new Jerusalem which
started to grow as a residential and administrative city. Attempts were made to renovate some
of the important sites in it, such as Damascus Gate and the Citadel.
The new city formed an economic administrative center for foreign communities in particular,
while the Palestinian elite followed or accompanied the development of their residential sites
according to the western models. As for the Old City, it kept its central role in housing the
Arab residents as the most important residential, economic, cultural, religious and political
center. The status of the Old City was considered as synonymous with the development of the
Palestinian quarters, north and west of the Old City, such as al-Talbiyye and al-Baq’a
Quarters, the German Quarter, the Greek Quarter, Herods Gate, Sheikh Jarrah and Wadi alJoz.
Despite the rising competition between the Old City and the new city, the central status in
terms of the housing, functional and administrative aspects was granted to the new city at the
expense of the old, especially in terms of the constraints facing the expansion of the old city.
This however, did not cause the Old City to lose its significance and importance. On the
contrary, it remained the compass for planning and developing Jerusalem despite the
selective immigration of the middle and upper classes to the new city. This situation
contributed in the deterioration of its social, physical and economic conditions. Despite this,
villages around Jerusalem were expanded until they became part of the city, especially from
the southern side, such as the villages of Silwan and al-Thori.
Urban spatial development in Jerusalem after 1967
Israel occupied the eastern sector of Jerusalem during the 1967 war including its West Bank
tributary. This occupation / annexation caused the transformation of the divided city, between
1948 - 1967 into an open one. Israel announced its annexation and sovereignty over East
Jerusalem and applied the Israeli law to it. The area which was annexed to Israel did not
include only the areas which were part of the East Jerusalem Municipality (6,000 dunums),
but covered approximately 70,000 dunums. This area was annexed to the sovereign area of
the West Jerusalem Municipality which included around 108 dunums in 1968. It was later
expanded to reach around 123,000 dunums (Choshen and Shahar, 1997). This administrative
and spatial expansion was a basis for Israeli and Palestinian urban expansion in Jerusalem
since the area of expansion included Palestinian villages such as Beit Haninah, Sur Baher,
Isawieh, Kufur Aqab were not within the boundaries of Jerusalem. However, the Israeli
government’s desire to create a reserve of vacant lands for Israeli architectural expansion
inside Jerusalem was the main reason behind the annexation of these villages to its lands.
Thus, expanding the new city was for strategic - demographic considerations
(Kroyanker,1988). The considerations have guaranteed Israel’s total sovereignty over
Jerusalem and rescuing it from the “siege” which it was under prior to 1967. This was
achieved through:
1. Setting a political demographic formula which seeks to maintain the number of Palestinians in
Jerusalem at less than 30% of the entire population of Jerusalem.
2. Guaranteeing the political and administrative centralization of Jerusalem through transferring
and concentrating all administrative and government institutions in Jerusalem including East
Jerusalem. The “government village” was established beside the Hyatt Regency which
strengthened the connection between the Jewish quarters of western Jerusalem and the
Hebrew University on the Masharef mountain and at the same time breaking the continuation
of Arab development on the Nablus - Jerusalem axis.
3. Establishing a belt of Israeli settlements on the outskirts of the borders of the expanded
Jerusalem to form support and nurturing for the heart of Jerusalem. The belt was established
on two phases: the first through building quarters such as the French hill, Ramat Ashkol and
Givat Hamiftar and later, establishing a belt on the outskirts such as Ramot Nevi Yacoub,
Gilo and Ramot and also constructing a belt of settlements outside the city of Jerusalem
which included the settlements of Ma’le Adumim, Pisgat Ze’ev, Avir Yacoub, Gosh Etzion..
etc.
4. Reinforcing and deep-rooting this settlement belt by connecting them by convenient roads and
guaranteeing its urban continuation while cutting off Palestinian architectural expansion at the
same time.
5. Deep-rooting the Jewish presence in the Old City through demolishing and evicting the
residents of al-Magharbeh and al-Sharaf quarters, establishing new Israeli buildings, and
housing Jews instead of Palestinians. This is in addition to confiscating and buying residential
buildings inside the Muslim quarter of Jerusalem by using underhanded and fabricated
methods in order to penetrate the Old City and assume control over it.
6. Israeli expansion in different directions in Jerusalem and increasing the Jewish population in
Jerusalem to reach 421.2 thousand Jews in 1996, constituting 9.2% of the Jewish population
in Israel. Thus, Jerusalem was transformed into the biggest city in Israel.
7. Limiting and cutting off Palestinian architectural expansion so it may not constitute an urban
ethnic unit, and to insure that the percentage of Palestinians in Jerusalem is less than 30% of
the population of Jerusalem (180.9 thousands of Arabs in 1996).
Israel taking power into its own hands and exploiting its strength and control to create a new
urban reality in Jerusalem was one characteristic in this epoch. Israel confiscated Arab lands
in the area which it annexed after 1967. This area was approximately 25,000 dunums and
some 15 new neighborhoods were established on which Jews only could reside. In 1993, the
number of apartments in these neighborhoods was estimated at 45,000. Despite this, the urban
structure of Jerusalem is still divided to Palestinian quarters or sections and other Israeli
sections. The Palestinian rejection to be subjected to Israeli control led to the formation of
dual or bilateral functional commercial centers. These centers served to increase of the
population of Jerusalem which increased by 122% as the following table demonstrates:Table No. 2: the increase of Arab population in Jerusalem between 1967 and 1996
according to the population groups (thousands).
Year
1967
1996
Rate of increase
Arabs
68.9
180.9
163
Jews
197.7
421.2
113
Total
266.3
622.1
126
Source: Choshen & Shahar, 1998.
It is clear from the table that throughout 29 years, the population of Jerusalem was increased
by one and one-fifth times, while the number of Arab Palestinians increased by one and three-
fifths. This reality led to the creation of an urban vocational structure characterized by the
following points:1. The expansion of the city according to the model of a central city with a central historic heart
and residential outskirts which include secondary centers.
2. Urban continuation which starts from Bethlehem and ends in Ramallah on the north-south
axis of the city, starting from Lifta and Deir Yassin to the west until the Khan al-Ahmar
region to the east. This urban extension covers around 60,000 dunums with different densities
and with various usage of land.
Map No. 4: division of Jerusalem quarters according to ethnic structure in 1997 inside the
municipality borders of the expanded Jerusalem.
3. Models of buildings and various styles of quarters in terms of structure, density and height.
There is a clear discrepancy between the Israeli and Palestinian quarters since the Israeli
quarters were established by a governmental initiative whereas Palestinian quarters creepingly
expand depending on private initiatives.
According to the available data on utilized lands in Jerusalem, 60% of the influential area of
Jerusalem is utilized. The following is a table which demonstrates the division utilized lands
which form the urban spatial structure of Jerusalem.
Table No. 3: utilization division for land usage in Jerusalem in 1995 according to the
Israeli definition of the Jerusalem municipality borders
Usage
Housing
Industry & handicrafts
Institutions
Usage of joint lands
Hotels and tourism
Public gardens & parks
Private usage
Total (lands) utilized
Open and agricultural areas
Total sum
Area in dunums
42,804
4,059
5,166
2,583
738
16,113
3,813
75,276
47,724
123,000
%
34.8
3.3
4.2
2.1
0.6
13.1
3.1
61.2
38.8
100
Graph No. 1: division of the utilization of lands in Jerusalem according to the Israeli
definition of the Jerusalem municipality borders
Land use distribution in Jerusalem*
(Percentages)
Joint land usage
2
Agricultural and open
38
Housing
37
Private usage
3
Institutions
4
Open and agricultural
38
Public gardens and par
13
Hotels and public park
3
*according to the definition of Israeli municipal boundaries
It can be noted from the table and graph that there are still vacant areas which equal half of
the sovereign area within the Jerusalem borders. It was possible for some areas to be
developed while others were left as green areas. This division of the urban structure of
Jerusalem concentrates on the total current division of lands of which one-third of the area of
Jerusalem is currently being used for housing while two-fifths of the city’s area remains
undeveloped. These areas include agricultural areas, valleys and wild areas. As for the
division of usage of land in East Jerusalem which was annexed to the Jerusalem municipality
in 1967 and whose area covers 70,400 dunums, 37,348 dunums were outside the zoning area,
and approximately 23,548 dunums were confiscated to establish Jewish quarters on it. The
remaining 9,504 dunums were allocated for Arab construction, constituting only 13.5%.
This period of urban development in Jerusalem was characterized by quick and directed
development in order to create an urban, political and demographic reality which would
ensure Israeli sovereignty and Palestinian subordination. This urban reality was created on the
basis of action and reaction and not according to logical planning, which guides and is
directed to the needs of the population. Both sides struggled for existence in Jerusalem.
However, the difference was that the Israelis struggled for existence, although that they
possess the power, resources and control. In this way, they initiated in developing the urban
space to struggle for existence and maintain control over the future of Jerusalem whereas
Palestinians do not possess the power or control. Therefore their struggle for existence
depended on reactions and was on a short term basis to confront Israeli control. There is no
doubt that the presence of financial resources and the economic growth between Palestinians
and Israelis contributed to the growth of Jerusalem. Both grew and were brought up in
Jerusalem despite the struggle and competition which accompanied this development and
urban extension.
In Jerusalem There are a three social and national groups which have a different demographic
structure and spatial distribution: Palestinian, Secular Israeli and Orthodex Israeli. This
different come as a result of natural increase rate which high beside the Palestinian 33 per
1000 in 1996, while among the Jews the comparable figure is 21 per 1000 in Jerusalem.
The population growth in Jerusalem and the villages and towns which surrounding
Jerusalem, create an urban spatial which extant from Ramalla in the north to Bet Lehem in the
south which began to functional as metropolitan area that suffer from demographic and
geographic structure different that base on the national belonging, which the next article will
elaborate and analyse.
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