Four Arab villages in Israel’s central region- Yama, Bir as-Sika, Ibtan and Marja – were joined under one local council (Zemer) in the 1980’s.
The master plan and the city master plan formulated for the area seek to introduce a new conceptualization of the spatial relationship among the four villages, and between the villages and the surrounding open spaces. The plan calls for construction of new housing alongside existing housing with land conservation concerns in mind.
The distribution of housing in each village is based on a study of existing topographical patterns of construction in each of the four villages, Quality open spaces were preserved at the center of each village, between the villages and in their immediate surroundings, including olive orchards, agricultural lands, natural scrub land and forest. The proposed comprehensive plan covers construction, development of open spaces, and movement between the villages, and creates a vital center for the area.

Chief architect: Yael Bar-Maor
Client: Ministry of the Interior
Part of the Eshkol 4, which also includes a town plan for Kafr Barah.
Architecture: Fogel Shoham Architects
Transportation planning: Ilan Marcus, Ofek
Tsurnamal Bar-Lev, Landscape Architecture 2002-2005, Master Plan
Tsurnamal Turner Landscape Architecture 2006- 2015, Town Plan