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Kickstarting the economy with a new £150m town

May 22, 2008 23:00

By

Ben Lynfield,

Ben Lynfield

2 min read

On the computer screens in the offices of the Bayti Real Estate and Investment Company, on a quiet Ramallah Street, a potentially historic attempt to create the first-ever planned Palestinian town is well under way.

The effort could be a major Palestinian milestone, or a fiasco, depending on Israel’s stance and the ability of Bayti to deliver in the West Bank — a more volatile setting than Morocco, the venue for its previous projects. 

The town, to be named Rawabi (“hills”) is to be situated ten kilometres north of Ramallah, the West Bank’s commercial capital and the seat of the Palestinian Authority.

Bayti chairman Bashar al-Masri says the $300m (£150m) project is aimed at addressing a housing shortage in the West Bank.