British Mandate: A Survey of Palestine: Volume II - Page 785. Chapter XVIII: Town Planning and The Problem of Housing : Section 1: Town Planning And Building Control : (d) Special Obligations of the Department in regard to Jerusalem in Palestine before 1948 (Nakba),

CHAPTER XVIII.

(a) The preparation of outline and certain detailed town planning schemes in the regional areas for the six administrative districts of Palestine.

(b) The preparation of schemes for the smaller towns such as Hebron, Gaza, Beersheba, Ramie, Bethlehem, Beit Jala, Ramallah , Bireh, Jericho, Nablus, Tulkarm, Hadera, Jenin, Beisan , Affuleh , Acre and Tiberias.

(c) The preparation of plans and diagrams in connection with proposals outlined by Government. These proposals affect generally the four main towns of Jerusalem, Haifa, Tel Aviv and Jaffa.

(d) The preparation of village development schemes, chiefly for the Arab areas.

11. The new Ordinance, now in Bill form, pre-supposes a greater participation in the planning of the smaller towns and villages of Palestine by the Town Planning Department, the size of which is now expanding.

(d) Special obligations of the Department In regard to Jerusalem. 12. In Jerusalem the Town Planning Adviser has specific duties in assisting Government and the local authorities in the control of design generally and the preservation of the unique character of the city and its environments. Two of the most important schemes are those for the preservation of the Mount of Olives and the clearance of buildings around the walls of the Old City.

13. The Mount of Olives scheme dates back to 1918 when the late Lord Allenby conceived the idea that building in this locality should be prohibited so that the area might be preserved in its natural state. The area has been indicated as a nature reserve in schemes prepared in l(Jl8, 1!)23, 1930 and 1944; but a final decision as to future development in this area has not yet been reached and depends to a large extent on the question of provision of funds for the purchase of land to be placed in trust.

14. Proposals respecting the clearance of buildings around the city walls were crystallized in a town planning scheme in 1929. Since that date action has been taken to remove unsightly buildings outside the Damascus Gate. Some of those constructed in the vicinity of the Jaffa Gate have also been removed; although the town planning scheme was promulgated in 1929 it was not possible to implement it until 1944 and then only in part and principally because certain shops had become dangerous to the public on account of a slight earthquake tremor.

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