Rawabi: Building a Palestinian state, one city at a time
“The project bears two goals - economic and political,” said Amir Dajani, deputy managing director at Bayti Real Estate Investment Company, which heads the city’s construction. “The city provides and will provide thousands of jobs, and in the political angle, the idea is to construct the Palestinian state through establishing this city, as well as other cities.”
The city is planned to spread over 6 million squared meters, and its first stages include 630 housing units - which have already been almost entirely sold, in buildings of four and five floors.
Some 70% of those who purchased apartments are newly married couples and relatively young people from the northern West Bank; most have academic degrees and a steady job, and only 11% are single. Among those who purchased apartments are Arab-Israelis who bought a second apartment, and are planning to use it during the weekends, as well as East Jerusalem residents who are hiding the transition for fear of losing their Israeli IDs.
Meanwhile, three schools, a mosque, a church, a large amphitheater and a soccer field are all being built in the city. The construction of a large commercial center with stores, a hotel, a hi-tech center and a cinema complex is nearly finished; a kilometer away from there, a logistics center for light industry has been established.