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Gaza Municipality explores cooperation with the Municipality of Barcelona on the reconstruction of the city
Municipal Media
The Mayor of Gaza, Dr. Yahya Al-Sarraj, discussed with the Municipality of Barcelona avenues of cooperation in supporting reconstruction efforts in Gaza, within the framework of the “Phoenix Plan” developed by the Union of Municipalities of the Gaza Strip.
This came during a virtual meeting attended by, in addition to the Mayor, the Director General of Planning and Investment, Eng. Maher Salem, Eng. Mohammad Al-Shaqra from the Mayor’s Office, and Eng. Habib Al-Kabareeti from the Urban Planning Department.
The Mayor of Gaza briefed the Municipality of Barcelona on the current situation in the city and the challenges facing the services and infrastructure sectors due to the extensive destruction that affected facilities and infrastructure during the war of extermination.
During the meeting, the Gaza Municipality team presented the studies and urban plans that had been prepared prior to the war, stressing the importance of building upon and further developing these previous efforts, in a way that ensures the optimal utilization of the municipality’s accumulated expertise and that of its partners.
For its part, the Spanish team presented a visual proposal (a three-dimensional video) illustrating a preliminary vision for rehabilitating the urban axis extending from Palestine Square to the seafront, as a model that could reflect the future vision for rebuilding Gaza.
The two sides discussed ways to involve the Earth Architecture Lab in integrating the heritage and architectural dimensions into the proposed vision, particularly with regard to sites of historical value in the city.
Both parties agreed on the importance of this cooperation as a first step within a bilateral framework, and on holding subsequent meetings to determine priority areas of intervention, especially along Omar Al-Mukhtar Street, from the Old City to the seashore. They also agreed on exchanging relevant studies and technical documents, jointly developing the proposed concepts, and exploring the provision of modern visual materials (photos and videos) of the targeted sites to the Spanish team, in order to enhance the quality of the proposed concepts.