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Rawabi
Rawabi (Arabic: روابي, meaning "The Hills") is the first planned city built for and by Palestinians in the West Bank, and is hailed as a "flagship Palestinian enterprise." Rawabi is located near Birzeit and Ramallah. The master plan envisages a high tech city with 6,000 housing units, housing a population of between 25,000 and 40,000 people, spread across six neighborhoods.
Construction began in January 2010. By 2014, 650 family apartments housing an estimated 3,000 people had been completed and sold, but could not be occupied while negotiations over supplying the city with water stalled. The city remained without water for an extended period due to structural and institutional obstacles. Though Israeli authorities technically approved a water connection, Minister Silvan Shalom withheld implementation, citing the need for the Israeli–Palestinian Joint Water Committee (JWC) to reconvene. The JWC, established under the 1995 Oslo Accords, requires mutual approval for projects, a system that gives Israel de facto veto power over Palestinian water infrastructure. Construction of the pipeline itself was complicated by the fact that parts of its route cross Area C, which is under full Israeli military control. When the hookup was finally approved in early 2015, the initial allocation was limited to 300 cubic meters per day, enough for only a fraction of the city’s anticipated population.
Rawabi covers approximately 6.3 million m² and is being built in phases. The first phase includes around 5,000 housing units. Initially designed to accommodate roughly 25,000 residents, the full plan aims for a population of up to 40,000. As of the most recent report, 250 units have been sold and nearly 1,000 more are under construction.
Occupancy in Rawabi has been limited, with an estimated 2,500–3,000 residents as of 2024, below the projected population for the first phase. Several infrastructure components, including the main access road and parts of the water network, cross Area C of the West Bank, where Israeli control necessitates annual permits and delays full utility service to the city. Construction and infrastructure development have continued, but full occupancy has been constrained by limited water supply, road access, and overall permitting requirements.
The project has seen approximately $1.2 billion in investment. Infrastructure plans include 25 km of roads, water systems, sewage treatment, and green space irrigation.
Rawabi is 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) northwest of Ramallah, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) north of Birzeit, 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the north of Jerusalem, 40 km to the east of Tel Aviv, and 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Nablus. Amman, the capital of Jordan, is 70 kilometres (43 mi) to the east. In addition, the Israeli settlement of Ateret is nearby. Masri envisages the latter as becoming a suburb of Rawabi in the future. The construction site stretches over two ridges, 700 meters (2,300 ft) above sea level. On a clear day, it is possible to see the Mediterranean Sea, 40 kilometres (25 mi) to the west, and the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv from the site. Rawabi's municipal boundaries will encompass 6,300,000 square meters of land. Residential and commercial development is based on a population estimate of 40,000.
One problem was that the West Bank lacked a traditional mortgage system. To that end, the development was linked to a $500m affordable mortgage scheme. The Washington Post reports that Rawabi "is specifically designed for upwardly mobile families of a sort that in the United States might gravitate to places such as Reston, VA. The developments are also relying on another American import, the home mortgage, including creation of a Fannie Mae-style institution for the West Bank".
Rawabi is the largest private sector project in Palestinian history. It was initiated at the Palestine Investment Conference, which took place in Bethlehem in 2008. The project involves a public-private partnership between Masri's property investment firm, Bayti (My home) Real Estate Investment Company, and his primary corporation, Masser International, which provided a third of the billion dollar investment, together with financial backing from Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company (the Qatar Investment Authority's property investment fund), Massar International, and the Palestinian National Authority.
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Rawabi
Rawabi (Arabic: روابي, meaning "The Hills") is the first planned city built for and by Palestinians in the West Bank, and is hailed as a "flagship Palestinian enterprise." Rawabi is located near Birzeit and Ramallah. The master plan envisages a high tech city with 6,000 housing units, housing a population of between 25,000 and 40,000 people, spread across six neighborhoods.
Construction began in January 2010. By 2014, 650 family apartments housing an estimated 3,000 people had been completed and sold, but could not be occupied while negotiations over supplying the city with water stalled. The city remained without water for an extended period due to structural and institutional obstacles. Though Israeli authorities technically approved a water connection, Minister Silvan Shalom withheld implementation, citing the need for the Israeli–Palestinian Joint Water Committee (JWC) to reconvene. The JWC, established under the 1995 Oslo Accords, requires mutual approval for projects, a system that gives Israel de facto veto power over Palestinian water infrastructure. Construction of the pipeline itself was complicated by the fact that parts of its route cross Area C, which is under full Israeli military control. When the hookup was finally approved in early 2015, the initial allocation was limited to 300 cubic meters per day, enough for only a fraction of the city’s anticipated population.
Rawabi covers approximately 6.3 million m² and is being built in phases. The first phase includes around 5,000 housing units. Initially designed to accommodate roughly 25,000 residents, the full plan aims for a population of up to 40,000. As of the most recent report, 250 units have been sold and nearly 1,000 more are under construction.
Occupancy in Rawabi has been limited, with an estimated 2,500–3,000 residents as of 2024, below the projected population for the first phase. Several infrastructure components, including the main access road and parts of the water network, cross Area C of the West Bank, where Israeli control necessitates annual permits and delays full utility service to the city. Construction and infrastructure development have continued, but full occupancy has been constrained by limited water supply, road access, and overall permitting requirements.
The project has seen approximately $1.2 billion in investment. Infrastructure plans include 25 km of roads, water systems, sewage treatment, and green space irrigation.
Rawabi is 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) northwest of Ramallah, 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) north of Birzeit, 20 kilometres (12 mi) to the north of Jerusalem, 40 km to the east of Tel Aviv, and 25 kilometres (16 mi) south of Nablus. Amman, the capital of Jordan, is 70 kilometres (43 mi) to the east. In addition, the Israeli settlement of Ateret is nearby. Masri envisages the latter as becoming a suburb of Rawabi in the future. The construction site stretches over two ridges, 700 meters (2,300 ft) above sea level. On a clear day, it is possible to see the Mediterranean Sea, 40 kilometres (25 mi) to the west, and the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv from the site. Rawabi's municipal boundaries will encompass 6,300,000 square meters of land. Residential and commercial development is based on a population estimate of 40,000.
One problem was that the West Bank lacked a traditional mortgage system. To that end, the development was linked to a $500m affordable mortgage scheme. The Washington Post reports that Rawabi "is specifically designed for upwardly mobile families of a sort that in the United States might gravitate to places such as Reston, VA. The developments are also relying on another American import, the home mortgage, including creation of a Fannie Mae-style institution for the West Bank".
Rawabi is the largest private sector project in Palestinian history. It was initiated at the Palestine Investment Conference, which took place in Bethlehem in 2008. The project involves a public-private partnership between Masri's property investment firm, Bayti (My home) Real Estate Investment Company, and his primary corporation, Masser International, which provided a third of the billion dollar investment, together with financial backing from Qatari Diar Real Estate Investment Company (the Qatar Investment Authority's property investment fund), Massar International, and the Palestinian National Authority.
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