TEAM
NIR MUALAM
Head of Lab, Principal Investigator
Prof. Mualam is Associate Professor in the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning at the Technion, a lawyer, and a planner. He is head of the Planning Policy Lab (PPL), which focuses on analysis and evaluation of policy in the fields of housing, construction, design, and urban planning. Dr. Mualam’s PhD focused on conflicts over preservation of the built heritage, and his current research interests include; housing and the built environment, vertical urban planning, judicial and planning institutions, value capture, regulatory analysis of planning processes and policies, preservation of heritage, urban design, planning theories, and cross-national comparative research.
Before arriving at the Technion, Nir was a legal advisor for the planning and building commission of the Tel-Aviv-Jaffa municipality, where he specialized in land-use planning, property law, business licensing, and municipal taxation. Prof. Mualam is engaged pro-bono work with local governments in Israel, and his work has inspired changes in existing local and national legislation.
Mualam graduated from the Buchman Faculty of Law in Tel Aviv University (Cum Laude, 2002). He holds a Masters degree in Planning, Growth, and Regeneration from Cambridge University (2005) and a PhD from the Technion (2012). In 2012, Nir was appointed as the Gruss-Lipper visiting scholar in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public & International Affairs, Princeton University. In 2023 he served as Associate Dean in the Faculty of Architecture & Town Planning, in the Technion.
Senior Research Associate
Naomi Carmon is an urban planner and a sociologist, Professor Emerita at the Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. For forty years she has been a member of the Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, served as Vice-Dean for Research and Graduate studies, Head of the Division of Urban and Regional Planning, and Chair of the Center for Urban and Regional Study. She is Past-President of Israeli Sociology Society, and received a Life-long Achievement Award – 2016 distinguished Planner –by Israel Planners Association. Prof. Carmon focuses on urban justice and urban resilience and studies urban regeneration, housing policy, social capital and community development, quality of life of minorities and immigrants. She is also a specialist in sustainability development, particularly water-sensitive planning. She is especially proud of the 65 graduate students who conducted their theses and dissertations for MSc, PhD and Post Doc with her as an advisor.
EYAL SALINGER
Research Associate
Dr. Eyal Salinger is a real estate appraiser, economist and historian. He holds a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from the Technion and a Master’s Degree in Spatial Planning from KTH – The Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. Salinger is a lecturer at the Technion, teaching graduate level courses in real estate valuation and urban economics. His doctoral dissertation focuses on the economics of building preservation in the White City district of Tel Aviv.
Dr. Salinger’s work has been cited by Israeli courts and appeal tribunals. His professional appraisal work includes projects in both the public and private sectors, consultations and expert opinion submitted in statutory proceedings.
TEAM
EYNAT MENDELSON SHWARTZ
Research Associate
Dr. Eynat Mendelson Shwartz. Eynat holds a MSc. in Urban and Regional Planning and is a certified and registered architect with extensive experience in urban planning and urban design. Eynat’s research in the Planning Policy Lab focuses on street art practices and policies. As part of this study she is conducting a cross-national comparative policy analysis on the management of murals in the city. In addition, Eynat leads the historic preservation research team at the Lab whose focus in on conflicts associated with built heritage.
CYGAL PELLACH
Research Associate
Dr. Cygal Pellach is a researcher and urban planner. She holds a PhD from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology, an MSc in urban and regional planning from the Technion, and a Bachelor of Planning from the University of New South Wales (Australia). Cygal practiced as an urban planner for 5 years in Australia. Her research at the Lab focuses on vertical urbanism and the provision of public floorspace within vertical environments.
DAVID MAX
Research Associate
David Max is a graduate of the Technion’s Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning, with a MSc in Urban and Regional Planning. His research in the Lab ifocuses on Israeli Social Protest Movements, as well as on “vertical allocations” of public services in mixed-use high-rises in Israeli cities and around the world. As a professional planner David works for a project management company that oversees the planning of the Metro Lines in Tel Aviv. Max holds a B.A. Hons. in History from Toronto’s York University.
TEAM
GILAT LOVINGER
Researcher. PhD Candidate
Gilat Lovinger is a certified and registered Landscape Architect; she earned her B.L.Arch from the Technion and a M.A in Public Policy from Tel Aviv University. She has extensive experience working with Landscape Architecture firms in Israel and in the U.S.A, in central government agencies and municipalities. Her exploratory research in the Planning Policy Lab, with Dr. Nir Mualam, focuses on surveying and conceptualizing elevated public spaces in high-density areas.
TAL ELAL
Researcher, PhD Candidate
Tal Elal is the Deputy Mayor of the city of Beer-Sheva. Among other duties, he is responsible for Planning, Engineering & Transportation. He is also Chairman of the Municipal Urban Planning Committee, an active member on the Southern District Planning Committee and the National Planning Board. Tal earned a Bachelor and Master of Arts in Geography and Urban Planning from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. He is currently a PhD candidate at the Lab. His research focuses on Hybrid Multiple Land Uses (also known as Multiple Intensive Land Uses). The research focuses on the definition and characteristics of the phenomenon, as well as on the practical ways in which it can be applied in urban areas.
AHDI ALCHALEL HARPAZ
Researcher. MSc Candidate
Ahdi Alchalel Harpaz is a an urban planner and a certified architect. As a practitioner she heads the planning studio at Derman-Verbakel Architecture firm. Her research in the Lab focuses on heritage protection and specifically World Heritage designations and their impact on policies and the urban environment.
ALUMNI
GAL NEUHAUS FEURSTEIN
MSc. 2018
Gal Noihaus-Feurstein earned her MSc (with honors) in Urban and Regional Planning at the Technion’s Faculty of Architecture and Town Planning. Gal’s research focused on ‘Vertical Allocations’ – (i.e., allocation of public utilities in multi-purpose buildings) eventually evolved into a practitioner's guidebook focusing on the pros and cons of vertically mixing public floorspace in mixed use environments.
AMIR DOMINITZ
MSc. 2019
Amir Dominitz research in the Lab aims evaluated the goals and impacts of one of Israel’s strongest planning boards- the Supertanker. This planning committee, also known by its Israeli acronym VATMAL, seems to epitomize a highly centralistic approach towards housing by the Israeli government.
IRIS BRODKIN
MSc. 2021
Iris Brodkin studied gentrification and displacement in urban renewal processes. Her research in the Planning Policy Lab focused on the relationship between gentrification and ‘construction & evacuation’ projects (known as `Pinuy-Binuy`). The research assesses whether these projects expedite gentrification.
Cecille Bernstein
MSc. 2023
Cecille Bernstein earned a Bachelor of Arts in political science with minors in archaeology and geography from the Macaulay Honors College and Hunter College at the City University of New York in 2013. Her MSc research in the Planning Policy Lab is focused on the engagement of non-profit organizations in knowledge transfer between cities, using park and open space development as a case study. She previously worked at The Trust for Public Land and Buro Happold Engineering.