Birzeit University to Consult on National Spatial Plan

On July 16, 2014, Birzeit University and the Ministry of Planning signed an agreement that the university’s Center for Continuing Education will act as a consultant on the national spatial plan under development by the government.

The ceremony, where Vice-President for Advancement Ghassan Khatib and Minister Shukri Bishara signed the pact, was attended by director general of national and spatial planning at the ministry, Ahmed Saleh Sadaqa, Birzeit University Faculty of Engineering Dean Afif Hasan and center representative Rima Ajrami.

The agreement will provide the ministry with consultative services from the experts and professors at Birzeit University’s Center for Continuing Education and the Faculty of Engineering, for the benefit of the national spatial plan. The plan was initiated by the Palestinian government in order to lay the foundations for sustainable development in Palestine, with the participation of all relevant parties from the public and private sectors.

The Birzeit University team will provide analytical studies on urban development in the Palestinian state, and develop ideas for this development using well-studied scientific principles.

The national spatial plan aims at creating a comprehensive plan that considers the spatial dimensions for development and the geographical distribution of the economic and social activities for the state-to-be. On one hand, it aims at attaining optimal utilization of available resources through interaction between different policies and planned activities. On the other hand, it includes guidelines and policies for investment distribution, spatially and sectorally, which in turn indicates the directions for expected urban growth.