About The Project

Previous architectural heritage conservation projects

Riwaq, in cooperation with Birzeit Municipality and some concerned residents of the town, prepared a conservation and development plan for the historical area and for single historic buildings in Birzeit. The main objective of the plan was to secure legal protection for Birzeit’s cultural heritage assets (historical areas, individual historic buildings, archeological monuments and sites) by classifying them into various cultural heritage categories, defining their boundaries and significance, and developing general and specific policies and by-laws for their protection, in accordance with their level of significance.

It should be noted that the historical area is 39.14 dunum in total, which forms approximately 0.5 % of the total area of the master plan of Birzeit (which comprises 6663.5 dunum). It was therefore reasonable to draw up policies to protect the historical areas and restrict work within them, in a way that does not restrict growth, development or construction opportunities in the town, but rather encourages such activities to take place within the most helpful framework.

Riwaq has already rehabilitated the Children’s Library building in Birzeit which is located in the south-eastern part of the historical area. The building is now used by the Rozana Association which works on rehabilitating Birzeit's historical area.