The Rocket Threat – The Solution: Urban Renewal

By: Itzick Simon 

 Countless words and articles have been written about the great importance of urban renewal for the old urban space in Israel. 

 However, while throughout the world the original goal of urban renewal is to prevent the spontaneous collapse of dangerous buildings and/or increase resistance to earthquakes, in Israel the issue takes on a different meaning. This is due to the security and missile threats that lie ahead.

 See, for example, the reference to this issue in the report of the Israeli Urban Renewal Administration summarizing performance in the field in 2022: " Due to the geographical location of the State of Israel and its geopolitical situation, urban renewal processes are intended to have additional national functions, such as increasing the resilience of residential buildings and urban infrastructure to natural disasters such as earthquakes and to security threats from which the home front must be protected, such as missile fire " (emphasis not in the original). 

 Promoting urban renewal is therefore the order of the day. The state must act immediately to remove most of the barriers that prevent projects from moving forward. 

 There is no escape from finding creative and effective solutions to the insurance challenges that unfortunately create a "bottleneck" in the field. The "insurance obstacle" stems, among other things, from the change in trend towards these projects on the part of reinsurers abroad. This is because urban renewal projects are known for their engineering complexity and their exposure to risks to persons and property. Mainly due to their implementation in the heart of the urban space, in proximity to existing buildings, in an urban environment that is not sterile and in certain cases even when the tenants continue to live in the renovated building (TAMA 38/1, reinforcement and expansion).