Areas of activity

In northern Israel, Bimkom works to strengthen the planning rights of communities affected by structural discrimination and neglect. Groups that have turned to Bimkom for support include Jewish residents of peripheral towns and Palestinian citizens of Israel living in recognized and unrecognized localities and in mixed cities. Bimkom assists them in seeking official recognition and securing their planning rights.

In the West Bank, Bimkom supports Palestinian communities living under occupation and military rule in Area C by promoting just and sustainable planning and development. Bimkom works with communities fighting for freedom of movement, access to water and agricultural land, protection from home demolitions, and the right to remain on their historic lands. Bimkom represents communities before planning authorities and helps them challenge plans that threaten their welfare and livelihoods. Bimkom also assists in creating and advancing community-led alternative planning initiatives and supports legal efforts to protect communities from forcible displacement and demolitions.

Israel’s Central District is one of the most densely populated parts of the country, with nearly 40% of the population living in urban areas, including 10 of Israel’s major cities. Here, Bimkom supports marginalized communities facing displacement and negative gentrification driven by large-scale urban regeneration plans that exclude them and fail to meet their needs and rights. Bimkom advocates with planning authorities and decision makers to raise awareness of the social impacts of such plans and to promote more socially sensitive planning approaches. Many of Israel’s mixed cities—located in the Central District and further north along the coastline—are home to both Jewish and Palestinian citizens. In these cities, planning and development policies often reinforce social inequality and ethnic discrimination. Bimkom works with marginalized Jewish and Palestinian residents to secure fair resource allocation and just urban planning.

In East Jerusalem, Bimkom provides professional support to Palestinian residents living under occupation in segregated neighborhoods, who are impacted by discriminatory planning and development policies. Bimkom works with residents to promote more just planning that responds to community needs and local conditions. We also help residents challenge harmful plans, regulations, laws, and land policies that reflect political efforts to dispossess and forcibly displace Palestinians in East Jerusalem.

In the Negev, Bimkom works to secure recognition for Bedouin communities that the state continues to deny, despite their long-standing and well-documented existence. Bimkom supports communities in identifying their unique planning needs and advancing them toward statutory planning and dignified development. In parallel, Bimkom challenges harmful plans and infrastructure projects promoted by the state which ignore Bedouin residents. We work to promote a just and equitable spatial reality across southern Israel and beyond.