The ‘White City': Preservation and Functional Changes in the Old Center of Tel Aviv

Building conservation is a cultural phenomenon in the urban landscape, occurring by means of turning culture into a tradable product. In the article we illustrate that building conservation, serves the wealthy by means of the symbolic value given to these buildings and their surroundings, while those who pay the price are the poor. The conservation plan of Tel Aviv is examined against the failures detailed in the Planning and Construction Law. We argue that the approval process that the conservation plan follows results in planning that ignores the negative external impact on the immediate environment, and directs the economic benefits to the upper classes, at the expense of the owners of the bordering land, who in many cases belong to the lower classes. These pay the price for the planning, due to the legal failures detailed, but are not entitled to reimbursement for the planning damages. This article exposes the legal mechanisms that channel the profits from the conservation plan to the upper classes.