Bimkom

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Bimkom - Planners for Planning Rights (Hebrew:במקום ) is an Israeli non-profit organization established in May 1999 by planners and architects seeking to address human rights concerns in their spatial and urban designs. Bimkom's goals include retroactively legalizing illegal construction in Arab neighborhoods ^[1]and promoting greater public involvement in the planning process. Its strategies include community-planning activities, educational activities, and public out-reach activities.

Bimkom has undertaken projects in the Negev Desert of southern Israel to aid Bedouin living in unrecognized villages. A plan for building 1,900 housing units in the Arab village of Issawiya, northwest of the road to Ma'aleh Adumim was approved by the Jerusalem Municipality in 2005. According to Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupolianski, it is one of 50 plans under way for improving the status of East Jerusalem residents and providing a solution for the acute housing shortage. ^[2]