Israel's Southern District Planning and Building Committee has approved the urban plan for Mitzpe Ramon, which will allow it to more than triple in size by 2030. The plan calls for the construction of 3,000 new homes increasing the city's population from its current 5,200 to 17,000.
The plan also calls for economic development based on tourism for the Negev town including construction of a wide range of accommodation for different communities including hotels as well as tourist attractions.
Mitzpe Ramon was founded in 1951 as a camp for workers on the Beersheva-Eilat highway and became a permanent settlement in 1956 when immigrants from North Africa and Romania were brought to the town. Houses were built in the 1980s and 1990s for evacuees from Sinai and immigrants from the former Soviet Union.
The town's hot desert climate is tempered by its altitude of 860 meters. Mitzpe Ramon overlook the Ramon Crater, the world's largest erosion canyon.
Southern District Planner Tomer Gotthelf said, "Mitzpe Ramon has unique traits combining a desert environment with first rate potential for developing desert tourism, which provides a unique, world-class experience. This plan outlines for Mitzpe Ramon gradual stages of development that maintain the principles of sustainable development and protect its unique values."
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 18, 2020
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2020