The double spine and the blue boulevard plans
Morphological visions and territorial politics of Israeli expansionism
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7959771 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Alona Nitzan Shiftan (Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, corresponding author), Cheyn Lambert (Technion – Israel Institute of Technology) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 40 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Pages | 1235-1259 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-03 |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Planning Perspectives (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0266-5433 • E-ISSN: 1466-4518 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02665433.2025.2529304 |
| OpenAlex | W4414144471 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 19 |
In the aftermath of the 1967 War, which tripled the territory under Israel’s control, architects Avraham Wachman and Michael Burt responded to the new spatial dimensions of Israel’s occupied territories with settlement proposals grounded in their morphological studies at the Technion. Wachman’s Double Spine Plan proposed settling the eastern frontier with a line of Jewish settlements parallel to the Mediterranean coastal spine with the goal of stabilizing Israeli territorial control. Burt’s westward-facing Blue Boulevard Plan envisioned artificial islands composed of prefabricated surfaces along the Mediterranean coast with the goal of offering new land to address land scarcity. Although neither plan was realized, Wachman’s proposal was considered at the highest governmental levels when it was proposed in the 1970s, while Burt continues to advocate for his vision today. Drawing on newly uncovered archival materials, this study reveals that the architectural discourse and milieu in which both worked led them to conceptualize the territorial dimension of the plan as a process that evolves according to scientific laws. Their plans were therefore diagrams directing territorial expansions rather than documents of negotiated policy. However, their seemingly neutral scientific solutions reveal contradictory positions on expansionism, exposing the political logic embedded in their morphological practices
Boulevard · Expansionism · Politics · Vision · Ecology, Conservation, and Geographical Studies · Urban Design and Spatial Analysis · Urban Planning and Landscape Design
Gyorgy Kepes
Settler Colonialism
National Home/Personal Home
Outline of a Theory of Practice
Kenzo Tange and the Metabolist Movement
Mediterraneanism in conflict
“It’s a great place for kids!”
Interrelations
Land Use Planning in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
Synergetics
Planning in Turbulent Times
Life at the Threshold
| Highly cited | No |
|---|