Post Oslo urban development processes: The inclusive city or the divorcing translocality? [Palestine]
by Natasha Aruri | Supervisor: Jacqueline Polvora, PhD
This work investigates the urban development processes that took place in the city of Ramallah post the Declaration of Principles (1993). The investigation covers development processes that took place, identifies the key stakeholders, and scrutinizes the physical and sociospacial impacts on the city. The researched is based on empirical social research, of triangulation of literature, qualitative interviews, and media. Ramallah as the de facto capital of the Palestinian Territories hosts both local and international, public and private institutions and organizations.
However, the city is encapsulated and constrained in a mixed reality of direct and indirect occupation that rests on the periphery. Sous-prétext creation of necessary infrastructure for an independent state, foreign aid is provided to stir the wheel of development in a process under which imposed neoliberal and global policies are deforming the space of the city. Hence, between enclavization and liberation of the market, the city is disengaging from wider national context. Through scrutinizing the aforementioned paradoxes, this work investigates this scene of sociospacial polarization.