The new city of Kasif is located in the Negev Desert, mid way between Beer-Sheva and Arad, opposite the Beduin town of Ksiefa.  Kasif  is designated for the growing Orthodox community with the capcity of 120,000 inhabitants. Our urban design plan is for the first quarter of 750 acre, 5,000 dwelling units (about 25,000 inhabitants).

The planning aims to fulfil some specific principles of the Orthodox way of living, such as: low- budget small apartments but with future expansion ability, limited height of building to maximum  4 – 5 floors, mixed uses, on grade parking, relatively large provision of land for schools, yeshivas etc.

The street skeleton is arranged as a grid with a boulevard at its centeral east-west axis. Within these  streets, a secondary network of local streets (“Home ways”, to quote Patrick Geddes who planned Tel Aviv in 1927) is integrated, designed to allow only local, slow traffic. Pedestrian and bicycle paths complete the urban structure with full connectivity.

As the typical family is large (average 6 children), the basic urban pattern allows for safe “communal living”. Almost each plot provides a cluster of some 50 families sharing a common yard with a little synagogue/ study room (“Beit Midrash”) in it. A few such clusters surround a small neighborhood park with kindergardens, all along local streets. This pattern also responds to the harsh desert climate.