Author: Adi Shifrin
Profile article on Hila Bar-Ner, Urban Planner and member of the Young Urban Planners Forum Committee.
“We do not create spaces that benefit us, and I believe that this phenomenon is tied to conditions in Israel. Because we’re a small and densely populated state, it sometimes seems like most of our energy is spent coordinating between institutions instead of creating places beneficial to people in the most basic ways. Take light pollution as an example, urban development has hidden the night skies. In Texas, the Dark Sky Program was established to protect starry nights for current and future generations. In Israel, this is only happening anecdotally, and almost no one discusses the effects of urban development on our quality of life. Perhaps this is why one of my favorite projects to date is formulating planning guidelines that support young children because they provide a great excuse to reexamine the environments we create. I want to believe that when planning projects, our goal is to create better spaces that promote and increase quality of life.”
Hila Bar-Ner was born and raised in Rishon Le’Tzion. She holds a BA from Hebrew University’s Amirim program, where she also did her MA in Urban Planning. She is a member of the Young Urban Planners Forum and works as an urban planner at Gavrieli-Segal and a Teaching Assistant at IDC Herzliya. She currently lives in Tel Aviv with her partner, with whom she is expecting, and their dog.
Hila Bar-Ner
How did you reach the Urban Clinic?
Even before I began my master’s I knew that I wanted to join the Research track, and therefore set up a meeting with Dr. Emily Silverman, whose work I had come across in the past. Emily participated in the 2011 social protests and strongly made the case that in order to solve socio-economic issues it is crucial to look at the spatial aspect. When I saw that she had a course called “City-University”, I made sure to register for it. Emily is a pioneer in learning and teaching through dynamic field trips which made me enthusiastic about her work and contributed towards my desire to join the Clinic. I initially joined the Clinic as a reporter, mostly writing about events. From there I transitioned to Urban Clinic Coordinator, where I worked on various things including new media management and project advancement. Through exposure to the diverse content I was working on, I developed an interest in placemaking and began writing and editing content that attempted to reveal what placemaking is and how it is expressed in Israel. This publication contributed to my thesis which dealt with different perceptions about placemaking and the impact the institutions behind them (national, municipal, or local) have on managing low-cost, temporary, dynamic, and community-oriented interventions. Following that, I wrote an additional publication for the Clinic, which was based on a series of sessions from the Department Seminar course where I was a TA. This seminar aimed to shine a light on professionals and the research taking place in Israel on public participation in planning.
Credit: Yinon Fox - Hila Bar-Ner lecturing in 2018
What do you do today?
Soon I’ll have completed five years at Gavrieli-Segal. The office was established by Tami Gavrieli who was the founder and director of Tel Aviv-Yafo’s Strategic Planning Department and Guido Segel who is an architect who worked for the Strategic Planning Department and led the City’s bicycle project during its formative years.
I joined as an underling and dealt with all sorts of affairs. Over the years the job developed into planner and project manager positions. One of the things I love about the office is that we deal with long-term strategic processes, and view planning not only as producing plans, but as a means to promote in-depth processes. Another thing I like is the nature of the projects we take on, such as planning for child-friendly environments and urban renewal. Over the past couple of years, I’ve been collaborating with Dr. Nati Merom, a sociologist and architect at IDC Herzliya who specializes in sustainability and urbanization processes in the global north and south. Together we are conducting research on sustainable development in Tel Aviv that has taken place over the past two decades. I also TA courses on sustainability and urbanization processes in global cities.
I am also a member of the Young Urban Planners Forum Committee, which is quite a blessing. At the most recent Israel Planners Association, we were able to set up a discussion forum to advance the interests of young planners and use our platform to promote social change through spatial interventions.
You’re one of the first people who wrote about placemaking in Israel, can you tell us more about your perspective since writing your thesis?
I was first exposed to the concept in 2015 during a collaboration between the Clinic and the Porter Center at Tel Aviv University which brought representatives from the Project for Public Spaces organization. From my perspective, placemaking is a process that embodies an understanding that urban change needs to be gradual, affordable, and ‘boots on the ground’ as opposed to long-term plans. My thesis aimed to explore the phenomenon of temporary, cheap, dynamic, and community-oriented interventions in public spaces. What are the goals being set? How do the interventions change depending on who is leading them? For example, what is the difference between projects when they are led by residents, the municipality, or the state?
When I first started writing my thesis there was this buzz around the topic, but it was still not clear how, with whom, and when to act. Since then, it is my impression that places that promoted placemaking, such as Jerusalem, have been busier with practical issues such as maintenance, budgetary cooperation, and others, and less focused on the actual projects. So, even though we have more knowledge and tools to execute projects, those involved do not always have clear goals and outcomes in mind.
I believe that placemaking can be a great tool for short-term solutions, but it is important to view it as an initial step toward long-term solutions. I think that this transition point is where placemaking becomes an interesting tool for planners, as opposed to designers or community members.
Listen to Hila’s Lecture on Five Placemaking Methods
Credit: Noa Regev - Hila Bar-Ner lecturing in 2020
What do you think planners can advance through placemaking?
The first step is to support placemaking as an important complementary tool to support long-term changes. It allows for local knowledge and ‘wants’ to be shared when promoting public spaces. The second step is to find a way to use placemaking for long-term policymaking. For example, how do we maintain, strengthen, and empower a community garden during urban renewal processes as opposed to destroying it? These are the kind of challenges that require creative and multidisciplinary thinking, which, in my opinion, are well-suited for urban planners.
Is there anything else you would like to tell our readers?
I would like to invite curious, creative, and determined young planners to take part and join our field. To me, it is important to remember and mention that urban planning is not just a bureaucratic and boring profession. It can be made more interactive by networking with other peers at forums, participating in association activities, participating in hackathons, and others. Most importantly, connecting with people who care results in more power. The more curious and passionate the planners, the more significant that change will be. We must continue to celebrate and promote the creative process because, in my opinion, that is exactly the factor that influences the places we design. At the end of the day, these are the places where we all live.
About the author: Adi Shifrin is working toward her BA in Sociology and Anthropology and Theater. She is also on the Urban Clinic’s writing team.
Credit: Yinon Geva - Young Planners Forum at the Israel Planners Conference 2021
Translated by: Galya Globerman