Who’s responsibility is it to clean up those open spaces between apartment buildings? That walkway or set of never-ending staircases that lead from the street to your complex? That vacant lot two doors down? This is an issue that unites all members of the Little Prince network – Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews, residents of various ethnicities etc., and the reason we began the Little Prince network two years ago.
Jerusalem, along with many other cities in Israel, has an interesting section of its zoning code called Private-Public Space, or PPS. These spaces are basically public open spaces – beside apartment buildings, or in common courtyards, or gardens or stairwells to very large complexes. As opposed to property that technically belongs to specific homeowners or apartment complexes, these PPS’ are open for anyone to pass by. But paradoxically, although they are open to the public, the space doesn’t belong to the Municipality, so technically, the Municipality is not responsible for maintaining these spaces. This responsibility is supposed to be the residents. However, many residents are either unaware of this responsibility or are unable to maintain and clean these areas. The result – too many PPS spaces throughout Jerusalem that are overgrown messes strewn with trash.
Cleaning up the Private-Public Space
And this is a widespread problem, that the Municipality has recognized that is must step in to improve. After several decades of neglect, as part of its plan to clean up Jerusalem, the Municipality mapped PPS’ around the city – over 1,125 acres – with plans to help residents clean and maintain these spaces on a regular basis. Cleaning will be carried out at different frequencies according to each PPS. In addition to cleaning, the Sanitation Division will, as far as possible, be responsible for handling lighting and safety hazards and more.
This is a tremendous accomplishment. Private-Public Spaces cover huge areas throughout Jerusalem, and cleaning and maintaining them will make a significant impact on how Jerusalem’s neighborhoods look.
The most exciting part of this news is that in doing so, in taking responsibility for cleaning up the PPS’s, the Jeruslaem Municipality has set a groundbreaking precedent throughout Israel. As we noted above, issues of PPS’s and whose responsibility it is to clean them up permeate Israel, but most of the municipalities keep to their legal responsibilities – public spaces as zoned. Congratulations to the Little Prince for this huge accomplishment, and many thanks to the Operations Division of the Jerusalem Municipality for their partnership.
fianThe Little Prince – Fostering cooperation between city workers, city departments and residents
One example is in old Katamon. This PPS has been the subject of Little Prince activist, and member of the Ginot Ha’Ir Community Council board, Sarah Yacobzada’s attention over the past few months. A few weeks ago, the Municipality finally began to clean up the area. In response Sarah wrote:
Remember the PPS? They finally started cleaning it in old Katamon. It’s important to say a huge thank you for the partnership between Dudi Turgeman, the Director in the Southern District of the Sanitation Department, and Mazal Gorney, who is responsible for landscaping in our area, as well as to Eitan Levy and Jamal who recruited the workers who cleaned up all the neglect from over the years! And our dear friend Gil Gorny who directed everyone, and who managed to drive significant change in cleaning up the city.
Here’s her Facebook post:
Here’s the post from the Ginot Ha’Ir Community Center’s Facebook page (in Hebrew):
Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation and the Rayne Foundation for their support of the Little Prince.
