Alternative Planning Center: Establishing a new Druze town at the Yibor junction does not solve the housing crisis
The Arab Center for Alternative Planning warned against a government plan to establish a new Druze town at the Yibor junction, stating that the chosen location raises planning issues and limits the expansion of the neighboring town of Kafr Kanna without providing a radical solution to the housing crisis. It emphasized that the housing crisis requires removing planning obstacles and expanding areas of influence instead of directing resources to a new town.
The Arab Center for Alternative Planning, in a statement issued today, Wednesday, warned against proceeding with the government plan to establish a new Druze town in the Yibor junction area, northwest of the town of Kafr Kanna. The center issued a professional position paper analyzing the plan, which calls for building about a thousand housing units on an area of approximately 600 dunams, with the potential to accommodate about five thousand residents in the future. The center stressed that the choice of the proposed location raises serious planning issues and may limit the future development and expansion possibilities of Kafr Kanna, without providing a radical solution to the worsening housing crisis in Arab Druze towns. The position paper revealed that the historical areas of Druze towns were reduced from about 465,000 dunams in 1946 to about 128,000 dunams in 2022, and that 69% of the areas of influence of Druze local authorities are not designated for development. It also showed that there are 2,061 buildings without permits in 13 Druze local authorities. The center criticized giving significant preference to state ownership of land within the site selection criteria, without considering the needs of neighboring towns. It called for freezing detailed planning and conducting a comprehensive regional study, while giving priority to developing existing towns.