In the photo, you can see Ben Yehuda Street when it still functioned as a road for vehicles.
A little bit of history:
During the British rule in Israel, five plans were prepared for the city development outside of the old walls. The plan used to develop the city strategically was the one created by William McLean in 1918.
It was followed by 4 other plans, at the end of which the city center was built, including the “triangle” Yaffo – Ben Yehuda – King George, the Shlomzion Hamalka area, and the commercial center in Mamilla.
The buildings were built in the 1930s as a row of adjacent houses (corridor shaped) and had 3–7 stories, with shops and businesses on the ground floor, and residential apartments above.
After the unification in 1967, the city center went through a massive construction and development phase. For the first time, high buildings were erected in the central area, which completely changed the face and atmosphere of the city. The aim was to quickly establish Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, a new and modern capital city with international status, and to rapidly transform its old and neglected center.
In 1973, after the national shock caused by the Yom Kippur War, which damaged the sense of self-confidence and euphoria that prevailed in the country until then, the city’s transformation plan was recalibrated. The plans became more modest and realistic. The basic concepts to redesign the city center remained narrow access roads, old and dense construction, and limited demand for commercial and office space.
The fact that most of the buildings in the city center were owned by a small number of wealthy families, who lacked the ability and motivation to fight with long-time tenants, and the unwillingness to compensate those tenants, made the plan stagnate. The consequences are still present to this day and visible on any casual tour you can take in the city center.
The idea of creating a pedestrian commercial area was brought from Europe, where the concept of street-level shopping areas without vehicle traffic was already prevalent in the 1950s and 1960s. The concept was introduced to Jerusalem at the end of the 1970s, as some would call fashionably late.
For 10 years, the municipality tried to turn the city center into an exclusive area for pedestrians, a process that ended in the early 1980s, when the last taxi station moved to the adjacent Shammai Street, and Ben Yehuda Street was closed to vehicle traffic, becoming the first and only pedestrian street in the city.
The process, like any other change that requires people to leave their comfort zone, was accompanied by resistance from merchants, tenants, taxi drivers, and residents.
Demonstrations were held, merchants feared the change would affect their livelihoods, petitions were signed, and threats were made.
Finally, Ben Yehuda Street was closed to vehicle traffic, the road was demolished and paved with stone, trees were planted, and new street lighting was set up.
The facades of the old sooty buildings were cleaned, the doors of the street-level shops were enlarged, old signs were removed, and more modern signs took their place.
The Ben Yehuda mall was finally opened in 1983, and in a short time became the heart of the city center and a bustling place full of life.
Towards the end of the Ben Yehuda Street project, the same plan started to be implemented on the nearby Nachalat Shiva Street, which is a road for vehicles situated between Zion Square and Hillel Street.
This area also became pedestrian, it was paved and renovated and has now become the Nachalat Shiva pedestrian street, welcoming those who come from the Ben Yehuda pedestrian street.
And today …
Ben Yehuda pedestrian street has become a hallmark of Jerusalem, the area around Nachalat Shiva Street is lined with cafes, pubs, bars, alleys, and small and magical courtyards.
Yaffo Street, which was a big and busy thoroughfare, is closed to vehicle and bus traffic and is used as a light rail axis, and Gidi Yon no longer sells Michael Jackson and Boney M. vinyl records.
This is our Jerusalem, new next to old, resistance to change from the elderly, as opposed to modernity and advancement that can improve residents’ well-being,
And there is victory at the end of the road for everyone.
Wishing a Shabbat Shalom to those far and near from Jerusalem
Photographer – Amit Itzchaki
